“Studies suggest you can build a maximum of three new habits simultaneously.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger in Arnold’s Pump Club
PARADIGM SHIFT
New Year’s Resolutions for 2025
As a young man, one of my many heroes was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Entering the New Year with fitness goals among others, I decided to subscribe to his newsletter Arnold’s Pump Club.
I found that his insight into goal-setting translates perfectly to finance as well as health.
Here’s the simple summary in two sentences:
“Research suggests that simultaneously working on several goals is a critical mistake and that less is more when trying to achieve resolutions or goals.”
“Other studies suggest you can build a maximum of three new habits simultaneously.”
Maybe you have one or more financial goals this year. Among them could be:
-
- Create and stick to a budget
- Pay off debt
- Earn a higher salary
- Save for a near-term purchase (car, vacation, new home, etc.)
- Begin saving for children’s college
- Save more toward retirement
- Give more to charity
- Take a course or class
- Learn stock market investing
- Invest in real estate or a small business
The list could go on. But it takes anywhere from 20-60 days to form a new habit. If you plan to tackle more than three total goals this year, consider breaking them into portions of the year.
For example, you could focus on creating and sticking to a budget from January through March. Once you are confident you are succeeding at this, then begin to save for the big purchase (like the car) with the additional surplus you created.
And once you’ve comfortably settled into both of these new realities, without falling back into the old ways, then maybe you tackle that course or class to improve your education toward earning the higher salary.
Even if you go for more than three goals at any one time, make sure there are three ultra-focused goals. If you have to give up one for a time, don’t let it be one of those top three.
Remember, if it takes 30 days on average to form a new habit, and you can reasonably pursue 3 at any one time, that adds up to plenty of goals that can be achieved by the end of the year!