Unlocking Success in 2025: Ditch Resolutions for Real Change

Well, hello, everybody.

This is certified financial planner David Chudick.

And welcome to episode 199 of the weekly Wealth Podcast.

Can't believe we are almost at 200 episodes.

This is the first episode of the year 2025, and I'm starting the year off with a cold.

But don't worry, I'm at the tail end of it.

And, yes, the show must go on.

So with this being the first episode of 2025, I figured, what kind of a podcast would we be if we didn't discuss New Year's resolutions?

Today, we're going to talk about why I think that New Year's resolutions are not a great idea.

And I'm going to give you some other things to think about that may help you to get to where you want to be in 2025 with your money, with maybe your health, maybe your relationships, and maybe even your spirituality.

So I hope that you enjoy this episode, and I am eternally grateful that you are a listener to the podcast.

All right, here we go.

Welcome to the weekly Wealth Podcast.

I am certified financial planner David Chudick.

This podcast and my wealth management practice are both designed to help the mass affluent to live better lives by how they handle their money.

We talk about financial strategies, prosperous mindsets, and simply how to build true wealth.

So come on and let's enjoy this journey together.

Okay, so before we get started with New Year's resolutions, I want to ask you to do all the things, make sure that you like and subscribe to the podcast on the platform where you listen to it.

And also, if you've ever gotten any value from the show, please, please tell your friends, please tell your family, please tell your colleagues and your co workers about the show.

Like I always say, I believe that how we handle our money should positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

And I hope that this podcast can be a little piece of that puzzle in your life.

So, hey, we're in January of 2025, and we're talking about the New Year, and everybody gets that January effect, right?

Everybody wants to get fit.

They want to get rich.

They want to reduce their debt, they want to increase their relationships.

They want to do all of these things.

So we talk about New Year's resolutions.

But did you know that a 2016 report by U.S.

news & World Report revealed that 80% of people abandoned their New Year's resolutions by the second week of February?

And did you know that only 25% stay committed after the first month, and then fewer than 10%?

This is a university of Scranton study found that only 8 or 9% of resolution makers feel that they achieve their goals by the end of the first year.

So why do you think that we continue to do something that doesn't really work?

Why do we think that we make New Year's resolutions?

And we know full well that probably this is not going to be something that sticks with us for the entire year.

If you're someone that goes to the gym, you know that the, the first week or two of January tend to be really busy.

All those resolution makers tend to be on the treadmills and they tend to be taking up a lot of the equipment.

But you know that if you stick it out by the second week of January or maybe a little bit later than that, the gym will be at its normal occupancy level and you will be able to get to your equipment.

So why is this?

And what are some things that we can do differently to help us to achieve our goals?

Okay, so the first thing that we're gonna talk about is our mindset.

And you'll notice that the tagline of the weekly wealth podcast is we talk about the mindsets, the tactics and the strategies that can help you to build and maintain wealth.

So let's talk about our mindsets and our beliefs about ourselves.

Have you ever noticed, let's go back to the gym.

There are people that simply go to the gym all the time.

They don't need to make a New Year's resolution to go to the gym.

Cause they are just simply somebody who works.

Do you know any vegans?

Do you know any vegetarians?

I don't think they have to make New Year's resolutions saying, I'm gonna really, really try hard not to eat meat.

No, they are just people who believe that they don't eat meat, so they don't eat meat.

On the other side.

I began a carnivore type way of eating and I'm eating a good bit of meat and I've really cut out sugars almost entirely from my diet.

Now this is not really a willpower thing.

Cause I am just simply in my own mind, no longer eats bread and no longer eats sugar.

So let's start firstly by changing our identity.

Who do we need to become in order to achieve some of these goals and get some of these results?

Think about the people who have the financial situation that you want and instead of saying, hey, I really, really, really want to get more money or I want to get out of debt or I want to make more money or I want to save More.

And it's going to be really hard and I have to try hard.

No, no, just think about the people that you know that are financially secure.

What do they do?

Okay.

And then think about the people who look physically like what you would like to look like.

Ask yourself, what does that person do?

And then as we're going through our days, I know this might seem a little bit counterintuitive, it might seem a little bit frou frou, but ask yourself, is what I'm doing right now, is this what a financially secure person does?

Is what I'm doing right now?

Is this what a person who weighs 20 pounds less than what I weigh right now, is this what they do?

And start using words to describe yourself in a different way.

So you can start referring to yourself as someone who works out five days a week.

You can refer to yourself as, I am a person who is financially secure.

And you know, I love the business owner.

So let's talk about some of the self identities that I see that business owners have that maybe they should think about changing.

And yes, some of these actually do apply to me.

So one of them is they just identify as like, nobody can do things as well as they can.

So they end up doing everything.

And of course that just puts a bottleneck on the whole business.

So maybe what some business owners should attempt to change their identity to is I'm someone who works really hard to empower my team to get done the things that need to get done.

And I put training programs in place, I put processes and procedures in place.

And that allows my team to do the things that they're good at doing and frees me up to do the things that I'm good at doing.

Another mindset that I find a lot of business owners have is that people won't pay higher prices.

If I raise my prices, then I'm going to lose a lot of business.

And while yes, price is important, it's important to remember that I think that we all do what's in our perceived self interest.

So there are areas in my life where I personally spend more money than areas in my life, in other areas in my life.

So if you're giving enough value to the world, to the economy, to your customers, then oftentimes price is not an issue.

They say that price is only an issue in the absence of value.

So why don't the business owners of the world start thinking of their identity as my business, my service, my goods are so valuable that if needed, it is worth paying a premium price.

Then of course, you need to deliver on that.

You need to give a premium product, you need to give a premium service.

But the more you start thinking about the fact that you are worth the money, the more you will start acting like you are worth the money.

So hey business owners, what are some of your self harming thoughts?

What are some areas where you just you're holding yourself back with your self identity?

Go to my website www.weeklywealthpodcast.com Click on the microphone icon and leave me a voicemail.

If you're a business owner, let us know where your self identity is holding you back.

Let's step away from the podcast for just a moment.

One of the services that I offer to my clients is help planning to exit their business.

So as business owners, you're familiar with the challenges and complexities that come with steering your company day to day.

But have you considered the transformative power of picturing your end game?

So imagine having a destination so clear in your mind that every decision you make naturally aligns with it.

To download our free ebook called the End Game, go to my website www.weeklywealthpodcast.com Endgame.

That's www.weeklywealthpodcast.com endgame and okay, now let's get back to the podcast.

And if you're not a business owner, here are some of the self identities that I see that don't serve some people well.

I have some high earning clients and these are people that should not have any issues whatsoever making ends meet.

They will tell me that they will just always have money issues.

They'll say things like, well I'm just not good at budgeting or it's just too easy for me to spend every dollar that comes in.

So make sure that what you're telling yourself, make sure that it serves you well.

So if you're someone who's struggling financially, whether it be you're spending too much money or whether it be that you don't earn enough money, don't just give yourself the easy way out and say, well, I'm just not good at.

Let's try to label ourselves as we are people who are improving in the area of or we are the people who act like people who are good at saving or who are good at budgeting.

One thing that can really help you with this is accountability.

So if you feel like you need any accountability in your financial life, you can always email me davidarallelfinancial.com okay, so now that we've done some work, we've thought about Shifting our identity of who we want to be.

We thought about who we need to become in order to achieve our goals.

Now let's break it down into little steps.

Have you ever known someone that was like £250 or £300?

They said I want to lose £150 and then I don't know, a week later they're totally off of the weight loss program because it just seemed to be too daunting.

I certainly have.

And one thing that I think is a great idea to do is to put some small habits in place that can start moving us towards our goals.

So it's been said that we don't rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.

So what does that mean?

Well, let's say that you are someone who wants to retire at age, I don't know, 65 and you want to be able to have $100,000 per year of spendable money at that time.

Let's say you work with a financial advisor and the financial advisor comes up with a plan saying that you need to save, oh, let's just make up a number that 30,500 dol max, 401k over 50 allowable amount and then that'll get you to where you need to be.

Now that's the behavior that needs to happen.

But let's say your habits are the fact that you never got around to changing your 401k deductions and you just nickel and dime yourself to death.

Well, you have this goal of having the hundred thousand dollar per year income at retirement, but your behaviors don't support the goal.

So think about all the areas in your life where you have some goals, you have some things that you want to happen.

And then think about if your daily behaviors, your small habits, are they putting you closer to the goal, closer to the result, or are they putting you further away from the goal and the result?

Let's start thinking about, instead of having goals, instead of having these end results, let's start thinking about daily or weekly or monthly activities, or we can call them habits that will take us closer to those goals.

So here are some money habits that I think that people who are financially secure tend to have.

My clients who are achievers and who are financially secure, they do a couple different things.

They're knowledgeable about their finances, so they know their numbers, they know what their debt is, they know where their investments are, they know where their money is going.

Having a financial advisor can help you to keep organized with this.

But it Certainly is something that you can do on your own.

But make sure that you are knowledgeable about your finances.

My clients, who are achievers, they actually make it a habit to enjoy their money.

Of course, they handle the first things first.

They make sure that they're saving the right amount.

They're reducing debt to the level that it's appropriate to be reduced to.

They are giving.

But after that, they are enjoying their money.

They are enjoying experiences with the people that they love.

They are upgrading their lifestyle.

They are even potentially just having nicer stuff.

So make it a habit after you've taken all care of the other things to enjoy your money.

Because let's face it, we work hard to get to become financially secure and enjoying the fruits of our labor, whatever that means to you, should become a habit.

And one final habit that I think would be great for all of us, and this certainly includes me, to increase this year is to be generous.

If you're a believer like me, we are called to help the least of these.

Now, we can do that with our money.

We can do it with our time, we can do it with other resources.

But I think that giving is hugely important and I say it every episode.

I believe that how we handle our money should positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

And certainly being generous is a way that we can impact everybody around us in a very positive way.

Way.

So, hey, join our Facebook group.

Go to Facebook and just type in the weekly wealth podcast.

Join the group and put a post in there.

Let us know what some money habits that you have that are positive or maybe let us know some money habits that you would like to add into your daily routines this year and how that they will affect you and your life and what goals they will help you to achieve.

All right, everybody, I really appreciate that you listen to the weekly wealth podcast.

A couple things that we'll have going on this year is we will continue to have a monthly Ask the Professor episode with my colleague Justin Chastain.

We'll dive pretty deeply into a financial topic and hopefully that can give you greater understanding of that topic.

As always, I'm going to bring some valuable information for the business owners of the world.

I love the business owners.

I'm one of them, the business owners.

Business owners have so much on their plates and I just want to be a valuable resource to them.

And we will also bring valuable information to the individuals of the world.

So if you have any suggestions on some topics you would like for me to cover or anything about the show, you can email me davidarallelfinancial.com okay everybody.

Well, thanks for listening to our first episode of 2025.

I wish you the greatest year and until next episode, I wish everybody a blessed week.

Thanks everybody.

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