Skip to main content

  • Home
  • Home
  • Clients
  • Philosophies
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us 
    • Ask Us A Question
  • Affiliations
  • Blog
  • Financial Check-Up℠
  • Resources
    • Calculators
    • TD Ameritrade Account Login

    You are here

  1. Home
  2. Blogs
  3. How To Make Your Goals More Attainable

How To Make Your Goals More Attainable

Submitted by BCR Wealth Strategies on June 21st, 2016
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Tweet Widget
  • Linkedin Share Button

 

Throughout my life, I have created many different goals. Some I accomplished and others I did not. Interestingly, when making the goals I could usually tell you whether I was likely to accomplish them but I couldn’t explain the difference between the ones I was going to accomplish and the ones I wasn’t.

Thanks to a recent report that suggests that there are actually six ways to improve your follow-through on self-improvement I have a better grasp on the reason I felt confident in some of my goals.

1. Start with a keystone habit, like exercise. A keystone habit is one that improves a variety of other habits by helping you see yourself in a different way. If you exercise, you tend to feel better about your body, eat more healthfully and procrastinate less often—a three-for-one deal.

2. Start small. If you want to floss more often, start by flossing just one tooth. Yes, that sounds silly, but eventually, if you start lazily, you’ll get in the habit of having the floss in your hand once or twice a day, and you’ll address those other teeth in your mouth. If you start off too ambitiously, meanwhile, the habit is never formed in the first place.

3. Make a plan for how you’re going to follow through on the resolution. One interesting study showed a group of students photos of what could happen to them if they failed to get a preventive tetanus shot. Another group was given a map to the clinic and were helped to put an appointment on their calendar. Guess which group showed up to get the shot? 28% of the students who left with a plan followed through on it, while only 3% of those who saw the awful consequences of contracting tetanus got the shot. Writing down your goals, and putting your times to exercise on your calendar, can improve your odds of keeping your resolution.

4. Bribe yourself. Pick something you want, and give it to yourself only if you follow through on your resolution. One study participant wanted to listen to the audio book of the Hunger Games, so she only allowed herself to listen to it at the gym. Suddenly, she was looking forward to sitting on the exercise bike.

5. Remind yourself. You can set the alarm app on your phone to encourage you to save money, reduce smoking or go to the gym. You can make a checklist of the things you want to do every day.

6. Partner with someone to help keep you accountable. Whether they are a paid coach, advisor or just a friend they can make a difference. Your support network can hold you accountable to stay on that financial goal, stopping smoking or spending more time at the gym. They might even join you in the accomplishment.

The next time you decide to set a goal. Pick some of these tips and integrate them into your plan. Odds are you will significantly increase your chances of succeeding.

-Marshall Rathmell-

*Some of the material above was prepared by Bob Veres Inside Information

Tags:
  • Author- Marshall Rathmell

Subscribe to Our Blog

Enter your email address:

Recent Blog Posts

  • General vs Personalized Part 2
  • Stop, Collaborate and Listen
  • An Unusual Opportunity For a Tax Deduction

Categories

  • Author - Clay Wood (3)
  • Author - Harold Sasnowitz (2)
  • Author - Intern (13)
  • Author - Lindsay Birchfield (2)
  • Author - Mark Hume (25)
  • Author - Marshall Rathmell (6)
  • Author - Sandra Cleveland (3)
  • Author- Clay Wood (31)
  • Author- Harold Sasnowitz (29)
  • Author- Kristie Clayton (7)
  • Author- Marshall Rathmell (92)
  • Author- Sandra Cleveland (49)

Archived Blog

  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (5)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (5)
  • October 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (4)
  • August 2020 (5)
  • July 2020 (4)
  • June 2020 (5)
  • May 2020 (5)
  • April 2020 (8)
  •  
  • 1 of 7
  • ››

Contact Us

Ask Us A Question

 

Alabama

Phone: 205-298-1234
Fax: 205-298-1230

1952 Urban Center Parkway
Vestavia, AL 35242

Get Directions

New Jersey

Phone: 607-238-7718
Fax: 607-238-2859

22 Lenox Ave
Clifton NJ 07012

Get Directions

Affiliations

BCR Wealth is an independent firm that puts its clients’ interests first.  In order to maximize the value we provide clients we have affiliations and strategic alliances with other organizations including:


TD Ameritrade, Inc. is one of the firms that we use to custody our client assets. TD Ameritrade, BCR Wealth Strategies, and the other entities named are separate and unaffiliated firms, and are not responsible for each other’s services or policies. TD Ameritrade does not endorse or recommend any advisor and the use of the TD Ameritrade logo does not represent the endorsement or recommendation of any advisor. Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade Institutional, Division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. TD Ameritrade is a trademark jointly owned by TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Used with permission.

  • Sitemap
  • Legal, privacy, copyright and trademark information
  • Form CRS

© 2021 BCR Wealth Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

Website Design For Financial Services Professionals