New Year, New Beginnings (3 min read)

Written by Millionaire’s Digest Team Member: Raymond Bernardo

Founder & Owner of: Raymond Bernardo

Millionaire’s Digest Team, Contributor and Successful Living Writer

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If  I ask you how 2016 treated you, are you are proud to say that it’s been a great year? I hope you are. Did you fulfill all your goals? Is there an additional member of your family? Did you gain a lot of friends? Have you fast-track your career? These are the things that we ask before we leave the current year. Of course, we are all looking forward to a great start of the new year but we should also take a moment to reflect and acknowledge all the wonderful things the year 2016 gave us. I remember posting this last year on Facebook the exact same day as today;

You see, I don’t have any resolution last year, all I wanted is to be better than my previous self and that’s what I want to continually do. There’s more to improve.

I am more than grateful for all the great things that happened. First, my Sister finished all of her subjects at school and scheduled to graduate the first quarter of 2017. I am so proud of her because, in spite of all the problems that we have encountered, she still managed to conquer all the financial and emotional stress thrown at us. Second, I got promoted at work. It’s very timely and I am so thankful for the opportunity for growth. Third, we managed to pay all of our debts. Our family struggled with finances during the time Me and my siblings are studying that led us to have some debts with our relatives and friends. I guess we are just blessed that we manage to pay it all before the year ends, and Fourth, I opened up my own Savings account. I always wanted to have my own savings but it’s really hard when you are getting just the right amount of salary for your expenses. But this year, I managed to have a workaround. Every pay day, I kept 20% of my income in the bank. Discipline is the key because I must prioritize my expenses to what I really need versus what I want. But I assure you, the financial independence you’ll feel when you know you have money in the bank is priceless. These are just simple things for some, but for me, it’s a lot to be thankful for.

And now comes the new year. I seldom make goals on the first day of the year because I hate disappointment but let’s make it different. I want to share you guys some Goals that I want to accomplish and I’m looking forward to reaching the end of 2017 with all of these boxes checked.

• Get in shape – I’ve never been in a good shape before, I used to be underweight during my high school years and a little overweight during my early twenties up to now. Every one of us wanted a perfect body, strong, flexible, and healthy. We can achieve it through exercise and eating a healthy diet.
• Enroll in a short course – If you want to earn more, you must learn more. This is a reality that we need to acknowledge. If you have more skills than others, you have vast opportunities ahead. I graduated with a degree in Information Technology but I don’t consider it enough in this competitive world. Attending short courses or taking up Master’s degree is a good investment in your career. Let’s always remember to be hungry of the things that can improve ourselves.
• Read more books – This one is basic but will give us lots of benefits. Reading helps broaden our vocabulary, helps our mind relax, and fire up our intellectual skills. It will even make us fall in love.
• Save a lot of money – I once read in TIME magazine that your savings should be more than your six months salary. So, if you are an ordinary working Filipino like myself, who earns more or less P300,000 a year, a safe estimate of your bank savings should be no less than P150,000. Of course, more is better. I hope to reach the end of 2017 with 6 digit savings.
• Travel – This is a kind of goal that we would all enjoy doing. Travelling lets you discover things, about the place, and about yourself as well. Having a quick getaway even once every two months is a great way to relieve stress, recharge and revitalize our body and mind.
• Hike Mt. Pulag – I want to give this one a separate bullet because this is like a dream for me. Just Google Mt. Pulag for pictures and you will know what I mean.
• Limit social network – Social Networking is a good way to gain new friends and catch up with the old ones but it may be addicting at times. Leaving us all virtual. This year, I want my relationship with my friends and family to be more intimate by catching up with them personally.
• Write blogs – Blogging is a great hobby especially if you really love writing. But there are times that we lack inspiration or ideas. I plan to write blogs every day next year by just writing anything that makes me happy during the day. I’m sure there’s a lot of things that I can write daily because there are countless things to be happy and grateful. I will start on January 1 and I’ll call it #365WaysToBeHappy.
• Take my whole Family to a vacation – I always wanted to do this so I’ll make sure we will do this next year.
• Eat an expensive meal – Every once in a while, we need to spoil ourselves with food. whether it’s Italian, Spanish, Chinese or any cuisine, I want to savor my cravings with something expensive next year.
• Buy a Designer’s watch – They say real men don’t overdress. I’m not fond of accessories and fashionable stuff. The only thing that I wear is a watch so I like it to be stylish.
• Learn how to paint – My dad is an artist. He can do anything from charcoal, acrylic, pastel, watercolor and oil painting. He is truly blessed with creative hands that can draw portrait, abstract or landscape. I know I also have this artistic side of me because I can draw digitally via Corel and Adobe Illustrator so my goal next year is to hone this skill in a different medium.
• Be punctual all the time – One of my weakness is time management, I used to procrastinate every time that’s why there are instances that I am late for work or meetings. Knowing the root cause of my tardiness, I will try my best to be punctual at all times.
• Be current on events – I used to care less about what’s happening in the environment that led me astonished during social gatherings. When you are talking to other people, it has to be a two-way conversation- With this in mind, you need to learn more just about anything under the sun so that you can express your own ideas on any topic whether it’s about news, politics or sports.
• Share my blessings – Whenever I receive a blessing, big or small, I’ll make sure to share it with others.
• Invest in a high-quality camera – One of my long-term goal is to have my own Photo Studio business. I love to take snaps and edit things.
• Learn a new Language – I bet 365 Days is more than enough for us to learn a new language.
• Hit the gym – If there is one thing that your body will thank you for, this is by being healthy. Bad habits, stress, polluted environment bombard our bodies with negative stuff. Let’s make sure we make it up with our health by doing lots of exercises.
• Drink more water – The average adult human body is 50% water. We should give our body what it needs. I’ll try my best to drink more water every day of 2017.
• Always Pray – This is a goal that is always on my to-do list. Always have a close relationship with God. Talk to him in a form of prayer, tell him everything. Don’t just pray during hardship or trials. Be thankful every time.

These are my Goals for 2017 – an extensive guide to making positive changes in my life. I hope you incorporate some of it on your own New Year’s Resolution.

I wish you all a Happy New Year! Please give me some love and leave some feedbacks on the comment box.

– Raymond Bernardo

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Article Credits: Raymond Bernardo

Millionaire’s Digest Team, Contributor

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