'Tis The Season...For Resolutions

Posted on 12/24/2018

Here it comes - a big wave of personal change! Time for everyone to start a New Year’s resolution and a journey towards bettering some aspect of their life. Okay, fine, not everyone, but most. Gyms will be crowded as people work towards new fitness goals, restaurants will be empty as their patrons make an effort to save more money, managers will be patient and helpful, workers will be more focused and driven (albeit not caused by their manager’s changes), and, as a whole, everyone may seem a little happier, nicer, and more productive.

Let’s be realistic though. Many people will lose sight of their goals. Have you ever heard someone still talking about their resolution in October? Of course not. It’s even rare to hear someone still talking about it in March. It’s estimated that 80% of people will “fail” by mid-February. I use “fail” loosely here because just starting to make a change is worthwhile and even if you don’t make it to your end goal, some progress is definitely better than nothing!

So, what is your goal for 2019? Oh. You haven’t thought about your resolution yet. Might we suggest working on your procrastination and planning? I kid, I kid. Being less critical is on my list for 2019. If you’re still looking for a resolution, here is a list of suggestions from the TaxBird team and our friends along with some great resources for helping you stick with it. Spoiler alert – as an app company, we love to use apps to keep us on track.

Be More Present

Mental health and well-being are something that can be easily overlooked. Meditation is a great way to make yourself more present and give your mind some time to relax and re-focus.

Our app recommendation – Headspace. This app has great guided meditation for all sorts of focus areas. The ability to schedule reminders for your meditation time will help keep you on track. And, as a bonus, they send notifications that read like a calming fortune cookie.

Learn A New Language

Wish you could speak another language and regret not paying more attention in that high school foreign language class? Yup, same here. Learning a second language is a great way to keep your mind active, learn more about another culture, and give yourself an excuse to travel - because you’ll need to practice with the locals, of course!

Our app recommendation – Duolingo. Duolingo is a fun, easy way to refresh some long-lost language skills or start something entirely new.

Healthier Eating

Always a popular resolution. The benefits of a healthy diet go far beyond just fitting into those old jeans - which are out of style, by the way, go get a new pair. Healthy eating can be a huge contributor to a wide range of physical and mental improvements. To really understand your diet and see results, it’s essential to keep a log to see how well you’re following the plan. And keep an eye on the mirror, nothing will keep you motivated like seeing the progress for yourself.

Our app recommendation – MyFitnessPal. Keeping your food log is a piece of cake with this app…pun intended. It’s not just about calorie counting either, most of the foods include their full nutritional profile so you can better understand what you’re using to fuel your body and mind. 

Improve Organization

Organization is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s much easier to be productive and efficient when everything has a system. Inevitably, that new approach will start to slide, and clutter and chaos will creep back in so don’t be afraid to switch it up when your system gets stale. Those refresh periods can be extremely beneficial.

Our app recommendation – Evernote. Easily create and update notes and to-do lists from the app or your computer. Few things are as satisfying as checking things off your list!

Save More Money

Being more fiscally responsible can be tough. Cutting back on the fun stuff in life to save for something down the road takes some serious will-power. Get on your way by reviewing all of your bills, expenses, and spending then set a budget and stick with it.

Our app recommendation – Mint. Half of the battle with creating and maintaining a budget is pulling together all of the data. Mint makes that easy by aggregating all of your accounts and helping you keep an eye on where your money is going – which will be straight into savings now, right?

Run that (insert challenging race length here)

It’s not just about getting more exercise. Completing a challenging race is an extremely rewarding accomplishment. Running off pounds and stress is just an added bonus. Plus, do it right and you can succeed with this resolution without taking nearly a year. We should warn you though, runner’s high is a real thing and jogging can actually become quite addicting.

Our app recommendations - Strava, Nike Run Club. They have plans to help you get started, access to coaching and your friend community to keep you motivated, and great run tracking so you can watch your distance increase and your pace decrease over time.  

Finally Avoid Overstaying in Your Second State

If you’ve followed the blogs, you can probably guess which one of TaxBird’s friends came up with this suggestion. Tony was bitter as can be about overstaying his residency threshold in New York this year. He just realized he’s going to end up as a statutory resident for 2018 and that’s coming with a big tax bill. Turns out he’d ignored our advice and never actually downloaded and set up TaxBird to track his days. You’ll get no sympathy here, Tony, we warned you.

Our app recommendation – TaxBird, of course. This will be the easiest resolution of 2019 with the app. Set it up once, input your plans, and then just keep an eye out for notification warnings. When you get close to a residency threshold, get out of Dodge!

The best thing you can do, no matter the goal, is to take advantage of the resources around you to help you on your way. Friends, family, and technology can create a support system and hold you accountable. Now go out there and make 2019 amazing, best of luck with your resolution and Happy New Year!

Questions, comments, feedback for the author? Reach me at jared@ware2now.com.