Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.
– Warren Buffett
It’s a new year and you have a new resolution: “I want to save money. I want to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. I want to start on my journey to financial freedom and I’m going to reach out to ConCap® and schedule my free consultation with them, so I can get started today.”
And then one thing leads to another and a year later you’ve failed to keep your resolution and you’re going to make the same resolution again. This is what will happen to about 91% of you.1
About 41% of people will make their New Year’s resolutions, but very few will achieve them. According to a 2016 study:
- 75% were successful in keeping their resolution after 1 week
- 64% were successful after 1 month
- 46% are successful after 6 months2
We want to give you 3 reasons why we think most people fail and 3 things that you can do to help your chances for success.
3 Reasons Why People Fail to Keep their Resolutions
1. It Takes Time To Build A Habit, Especially When It Comes To Money
If you’re a spender and want to become a saver and investor, you’ll have to change how you think about money. How you utilize your money depends on the habits you’ve built throughout your life.
You might have heard that it takes 30 days to build a habit, but that idea is largely a myth.3 Our experience has shown that 30 days isn’t going to do anything to change your money habits. When it comes to financial literacy or financial freedom, that habit will likely take years to develop. Very few people have that level of discipline and patience to stay the course.
2. Change Is Hard
Our habits on money are not only rooted in what we believe about money, but also rooted in what we believe about ourselves. Studies have shown that people who habitually live beyond their means also oftentimes have low self-esteem issues.4 That’s why the older you get, the more mistakes you’ve made, the more deeply ingrained your habits become, and the harder it is to change.
3. You’ll Lose Friends and Family In The Process
It is a very unfortunate side effect of succeeding that there will be many around you that won’t appreciate your success. This is especially true when it comes to your financial freedom. Many of our clients who have been on this road for many years are seeing the fruits of their efforts, and are also noticing that others around them are becoming envious of them.
3 Things You Can Do To Succeed
1. Recognize It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
When it comes to the stock market, many people want to hit a home run. It’s understandable because we often read articles about people who became multi-millionaires investing in Amazon or Apple. But people forget that it took 20-30 years of investing to get there. There was a time after the Dot-Com crash when Amazon traded as low as $0.60 a share, split-adjusted. How many investors stuck it through at that time? Only those who realized that there was a long-term investment horizon involved and that it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
2. Be Willing To Change Your Habits and Be Humble About It
The truth is that many people can attain their financial freedom, if nothing else, purely from a mathematical and numbers-perspective. Most people won’t get there because they aren’t open-minded and do not have the willingness to change their financial habits. And there’s not much you can do if you are not willing to change. The vast majority of folks who want to do this will need the guidance of a qualified financial advisor. To do that, you’ll need to have the humility to admit that you need help from the experts.
3. Stop Caring About What Other People Think
Admittedly, this one is the hardest to do for most people. Even as children, we are hard-wired by our surroundings to care about what others think – to care about what your parents think, what your teachers think, what your friends, spouse, and co-workers think.
If you want financial freedom, you’ll have to learn how to march to your own beat. There is a saying that birds of a feather, flock together. Well, chances are that if you want to pursue your financial freedom, you may have to leave the nest along with the other chicks that are currently in there with you.
If you are not a ConCapper, don’t hesitate to reach out to us to see how we could help in your financial independence journey. Visit our Requirements page to get connected. We invite you to like and follow our company’s Facebook page to get real-time access to our new articles and company updates.
Sources:
1 – Schwantes, M. (2022, January 8). Studies show 91 percent of Us won’t achieve our New Year’s … – inc.com. Studies Show 91 Percent of Us Won’t Achieve Our New Year’s Resolutions. How to Be the 9 Percent That Do. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/studies-show-91-percent-of-us-wont-achieve-our-new-years-resolutions-how-to-be-9-percent-that-do.html
2 – Discover Happy Habits. (2022, August 22). New Year’s resolution statistics (2022 updated) – discover happy habits. New Year’s Resolution Statistics (2022 Updated). Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://discoverhappyhabits.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
3 – King, B. (2020, January 2). How long does it take to form a new habit? | psychology Today. How long does it take to form a new habit? Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/taking-it-easy/202001/how-long-does-it-take-form-new-habit
3 – Park, L. E., Ward, D. E., & Naragon-Gainey, K. (2017). It’s all about the money (for some): Consequences of … – buffalo. It’s All About the Money (For Some): Consequences of Financially Contingent Self-Worth. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/selfandmotivationlab/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/2018/05/Park-Ward-Naragon-Gainey-2017-PSPB.pdf
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Investment advisory services offered through ConCap® LLC, a registered investment advisor.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. Comments concerning the past performance of [e.g. monetary instruments, investment indexes or international markets] are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results.
