Planning your wishes ahead of New Year’s Eve? Perhaps you’ll want to fold in one of New Year’s traditions from around the world. In Spain, people start the New Year with a full mouth of grapes. Danes jump from a chair at midnight, “leaping” into the year. In Brazil, people make seven wishes while jumping over seven waves.
If you’re looking for something less elaborate and more reality-based, this quick guide will teach you to properly formulate your wishes for prosperity.
1. Envision your ideal financial situation
When dealing with day-to-day financial situations (struggles even), people tend to forget the bigger dreams they keep inside. If you’ve lost sight of where your want to go, perhaps the New Year is the time to remind yourself.
Envisioning the financial prosperity you desire. What does the ideal day look like? How do you make a living? Who are you surrounded by?
That’s a good way of filtering out things you don’t actually want. If you’ve imagined a life that makes you genuinely happy, make your wishes about that.
2. Make realistic wishes with good intentions
Strike a balance of being pragmatic and optimistic. You won’t really motivate yourself to be in a better financial position by shooting for the stars. So, consider your personal limitations. Some things are unrealistic no matter how hard you push yourself; for example, you can’t wish for a fortune to strike you on January 1.
At the same time, this wish should still inspire you, if not challenge you. Try not to set the bar too low, even if you want the wish to be attainable.
3. Prioritize
Technically, you can spend the entire night listing your wishes, but what good will it do? It seems more reasonable to cut the list down.
Think about your wishes from the urgency, value, and importance perspectives. Urgency doesn’t always play a significant role, although the other two are key parameters.
- Prioritize high-value wishes: if a wish comes true, which one will produce the greatest return on investment?
- Wish for what’s important to you: what do you find the most important about personal finances?
4. Write your wishes down
This step forces you to clarify what you actually want. Before a wish is on paper, it’s nothing more than a thought, an intention, or a mental state. But if you’re planning to write it down, it will require a higher level of clarity rather than just thinking. You’ll have to express the wish in words, which are more concrete, even more tangible.
Now, you have clear benchmarks to strive towards. It stops you from guessing as to what your objectives truly are and even relieves stress.
How to turn your wishes into true goals
Perhaps the best thing you can do about your wishes is to reframe them into goals. Think about it: wishes are something you hope will happen, and they take away your power to make it happen. Goals, on the other hand, are something you can work towards, and they keep you in control.
To turn your wishes into goals, you need to:
- Imagine without limitations but anticipate obstacles
- Figure out the specific steps to actualize your wishes
- Categorize wishes/goals as short-, mid-, or long-term
- Make an action plan that is time-bound
- Start taking care of your finances today
Best wishes!
Sources:
15 New Year’s Traditions From Around the World, Glamour
Neuroscience Explains Why You Need To Write Down Your Goals If You Actually Want To Achieve Them, Forbes