What Most People Get Wrong About New Years Resolutions and What To Do Instead for 2022

The beginning of a year is always an exciting time. For many, it’s a time of reflection and a time to reconnect with their ideal self.

It’s also when most people set resolutions to get closer to that ideal vision they have of themselves.

But setting a resolution is the wrong way to go about it. It’s fundamentally backward to make what it takes to make legitimate progress towards a goal and future state.

Here’s why: Resolutions suggest that you start something anew. Real progress is made by diving deeper on an existing path.

Re-engaging past interests and actions is a much more effective way to get the outcome desired. Think about how you can double down on a good idea of a year’s past that maybe you didn’t fully commit to. Or, better yet, an idea you implemented for a while then stopped over time. Things you started in the past are a good indication that the interest is there and that at one time in the past you were motivated to implement. Actions speak louder than words.

For example, this time last year I committed to writing online daily. It went great for the first 2 months as I stuck to plan A. Then as I looked for ways to get more distribution, I found a community of people that were also writing daily online but executing differently. I edited the goal to join the group and publish daily but on a different platform than I started (and in a different format). So while on a macro scale the idea was basically the same, I ended up losing traction on plan A. To make matters worse, I allowed life to get in the way and interrupt my execution of plan B.

By mid-year, I had 2 months of progress in two different writing platforms and two publishing styles. Neither was able to reap the benefits of compounded audience building via their respective areas. When I looked back on last year, I saw lots of good feedback and beginning signals that my topics were cutting through the noise. But because I stopped and changed the course I’ll essentially be starting over again.

I see people do this sort of thing in their careers as well

There’s a successful real estate investor who bought and sold investment properties for the better part of the last decade. They’ve made good money, but of course, they’d also made some mistakes

They know the ins and outs of the markets they invested in, how to source deals, and (most importantly) how to be a successful operator.

This year they decided they want to leave real estate altogether.

Why?

They have a long-time passion for another area and want to give it a go.

Sounds noble. But in reality, it’s a mistake. Following the passion isn’t a mistake. Not leveraging their existing expertise for the benefit of the passion is a mistake.

In their case, they want to work with underprivileged children in schools. I bet those kids would love to learn how to secure a home for their families and create income outside of their chosen profession with the most historically proven asset class…

But I digress.

Here’s the point:

People make the mistake of starting from ground zero at each new year. This is largely a waste of time that undermines their ability to see the results they want. Real progress comes from consistent action over a long time.

So what should you do instead? Review what previous actions gave you the most progress in an area. What made you the most income? What got you closer (no matter how small) to your ultimate goals?

The dopamine hit of “new” is exciting, it’s intriguing. But it also usurps our ability to take advantage of compounding. By constantly starting and stopping we never allow ourselves to fully deepen our knowledge and get the outsized returns we seek.

Scientia potentia est. Knowledge is power.

The famous quote that knowledge is power is only somewhat true. General knowledge crowds your mind and is rarely actionable at the level and scale where it can make a difference. Specialized knowledge is what gives a person power and leverage.

If you want to make 2022 the year that you (finally) make progress in real estate investing then recommit. Don’t go looking for new shiny objects, instead seek ways where you can deepen your knowledge. Master, implement. Don’t just keep starting a surface-level knowledge over and over again. Make this year count.

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