It\u2019s the time of the year when we are barraged with lists: Stocks to buy, books to read, explanations of why the bad choices made in the past year will work out better next year.<\/p>\n
And, the forecasts, so many forecasts. Worst of all are the horrible suggestions for New Year\u2019s resolutions.<\/p>\n
Rather than my usual pedantic finger wagging, let\u2019s take a page from the Charlie Munger playbook, and invert. Consider my list of resolutions, each one less likely to succeed than the next, says Barry Ritholtz.<\/p>\n
1. Save more money:<\/strong> This is the year when the Ritholtz household will tighten our belts, and sock away some money for a rainy day.<\/p>\n Out: going to expensive restaurants, vacation travel, Broadway shows, music concerts and stand-up comedy, two-day delivery on unimportant stuff from Amazon. The expensive car leases, the boat and marina docking fees, first-class seat in the plane — all gone. Oh, and no more Starbucks lattes.<\/p>\n In: Streaming, cooking at home, borrowing books from the library, staycations.<\/p>\n Make a budget, stay with it. See, this is easy, right?<\/p>\n 2. Spend more time with the family:<\/strong> How hard can it be to carve out an extra 10 hours a week to spend more time with your loved ones?<\/p>\n Schedule a date night or three each week with the spouse, go to the kids\u2019 games and recitals, invite the in-laws over for brunch, read bedtime stories to your children. Family is everything, right?<\/p>\n 3. Invest more:<\/strong> You already max out your 401(k), but that doesn’t mean you can’t scrape up some more money for retirement savings or other investment goals.<\/p>\n Put together a few themed investments – say, cannabis companies, or emerging-market small cap value – throw some money into that each month.<\/p>\n Also, any time the market falls 10 percent, overcome your own panic and throw a few bucks into a Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fund. Saving more money is easy. So is this.<\/p>\n 4. Lose weight \/eat better<\/strong>: I mean, how hard is this one? Cut the sweets and fat, reduce your portions, don\u2019t eat after 8 p.m., add more fresh fruits and vegetables, eat less processed food. (You\u2019ve already stopped going out to restaurants).<\/p>\n Oh, and limit yourself to one glass of red wine a day – no more spirits or beer. The pounds will just disappear.<\/p>\n 5. Read more books<\/strong>: The US publishes about 300,000 new titles a year, surely you can find some time to read a few of them?<\/p>\n Cut out a television show (or some of that family time you just regained) to pick up a few hours of time for you.<\/p>\n Then pick a few books each month to read – I\u2019ll give you a start with a list twice a year. You will be smarter and better-informed before you know it!<\/p>\n 6. Get to the gym:<\/strong> We all know the health benefits of exercise. Lift some free weights, hit the speed bag for a while, jump rope, work up a sweat.<\/p>\n Buy yourself a rowing machine, stepper or elliptical, and stick to a routine. You\u2019re guaranteed to live longer and better.<\/p>\n 7. Get more sleep:<\/strong> Why didn\u2019t I think of this before?! I will just sleep two hours more each night. Start by going to bed earlier and waking up a bit later and not putting in that half-hour on the computer before heading to the office.<\/p>\n This is something you’ve dreamed of doing forever. How hard can it be?<\/p>\n 8. Stop multitasking:<\/strong> Don\u2019t respond instantly to every email and text. Also, turn off the flashing, pulsing, vibrating notifications on your smartphone for each new email or text message.<\/p>\n Pick two times a day to read and respond. Almost instantly, you will be present in the moment.<\/p>\n 9. Reinvent yourself:<\/strong> Learn a new language, take up a new hobby, volunteer for charity. If you’ve done the above, you will now have enough time that you can surely squeeze in another few hours a week to reinvent yourself.<\/p>\n While you’re at it, indulge your creative side, let go of negative things from the past, revel in what the future holds. See, making yourself into a better you is possible.<\/p>\n 10. Stop procrastinating\/being late<\/strong>: Just because I waited until Dec. 31 to get this list published doesn’t mean I am any less committed to ending my habit of putting things off to the last minute. If I can do it, so can you.<\/p>\n And with that, one last piece of advice – one to be taken seriously: Make small, achievable changes toward a set of measurable goals or a clearly defined objective that has a positive feedback loop. That\u2019s a resolution I can get behind.<\/p>\n
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