Every year at Christmas I think about the things that I have achieved over the last 12 months, the goals I had set and what I would would like to do in the year to come. Some people go for resolutions, but most of the time these tend to have a negative result.
Resolutions are often about the things that you have had no interest in doing in the past, so why would you change that in the future? My preference is to work on things that do interest me, generally those I already do, but want to do even better.
Here are my top 10 things to live by for 2012:
Focus on making more money
Saving money is great and everyone should do it, but in order to go from having a little to having a lot, you generally need to do more. My aim is to focus on ways to make money, not just save it. I plan to write as much about this in the coming year as I can, hopefully it will help others make more money too.
Stop accumulating
I’m not really a hoarder, but over the years I have noticed things mounting up. I have no problem with buying the things I really want, but I do need to start being a little more ruthless. My aim this year is not to accumulate anything more, in fact I would like to actually have less. The easiest way I can do this is to throw something out whenever I buy something else (or better yet sell, or give it away).
Reward yourself with something that is memorable
People do all kinds of things to reward themselves for the good work they do, but often it involves buying something that was not really memorable. Following on from my no accumulating goal, I plan to reward myself with things that are memorable, but that will not add to the possessions I already have. Personally I think that this can only be fun, I’m thinking family holidays, parties with friends and once in a life time experiences.
Establish systems that make life easier and free up your time
I love automating things as much as I can. I automate my finances so I don’t get bogged down in them and it works extremely well. I still think there is a little more that I can do in that department, so I’ll be spending some time perfecting this over the coming year and plan to share it with you here. There are a few other things that I would like to make a little easier too, and I’ll let you know how they go once I get going.
Use time effectively
I really need to get better at this, so if you have some good productivity tips (for work), then let me know. My big one at the moment is watching less tv, in fact I do very little of this these days. If I can combine a few systems and manage my time effectively, there is no telling what I might be able to do! If you are after a good resource yourself, you might like to try this awesome article written by Glen at Viper Chill.
Think big
I changed jobs half way through last year and the biggest thing that effected me was my inability to think big for quite some time. Learning a new job takes time and it is easy to get caught up in the ‘busy work’ which often results in very little being done. Unfortunately this is just something that you have to work through when you start a new job, but I plan to make more time to think about things in the New Year rather than just being busy. The very same principle applies to my approach to making money, blogging or even living life for that matter.
Get outside your comfort zone
I do this whenever I can. Most of us spend far too much time doing the things that we are comfortable with, it is safe and routine and we do it on auto-pilot. Did you see that movie called Yes Man? That is me, only not as annoying as Jim Carrey (I hope). New food, new people, places and experiences, whatever comes your way, just go for it.
Learn something new every day
I love learning new things. If someone can show me something I didn’t know how to do, I don’t feel silly, I’m just pleased that I learned how to do it. I think everyone should do this, it keep you actively thinking and seeking out new ways to do things better. You never know what a new piece of information or a new skill could unlock for you.
Read real books
I really like reading, but these days I do a lot of it on a computer. I love the information that I can access online, but nothing beats reading real books. This year my aim is to read more real books (with the time I plan to find), hopefully I can review a few on the Money Cactus site as well.
Maximise time with your family
My family is absolutely the most important thing to me. In 2012 my wife and I will be increasing our little family by 1 and giving our daughter a little brother or sister. I am definitely a ‘work to live’ type of person and want to make the most of every opportunity I have to be involved in the lives of my wife and children.
What do you plan to live by in 2012?
Image by AMagill