The great thing about this time of the year is that we have a chance to pause, reflect upon the year just past and bring closure to another milestone.  It is also an opportunity to start anew and start planning positive changes that will get you closer to what you want to achieve in life.  The calendar change could be just the trigger that sparks a renewed focus on old dreams that have been put on hold for whatever reason.  As 2007 comes to a close and you get ready for a new year, are you setup for success?

Let’s review a few steps you should take to achieve success in 2008:

Do a Health Check

Everything takes a second priority if you are not healthy.  In order to assure that you will be ready to accomplish what you set out to achieve in 2008 make sure your health is in good shape.  If you have health issues that you need to address, make that a top priority.  Is your cholesterol too high?  Work on a plan with your doctor to bring it to a healthy level.  Are you a smoker or have other addictions?  Sign up for a program to clean your system from any toxic dependence.  Taking good care of your health is the most important step in being setup for success in the New Year.

Get in Shape

This one is closely related to the health topic above.  If you are overweight or out of shape you will not be in your best condition to be successful in the New Year.  If you are like most people, your clothes may be feeling a little tight after the holidays.  Don’t let that discourage you.  Gaining some weight during the holidays is almost unavoidable given all the festivities and high-calorie gifts floating around.  The most important thing is to not let it get out of control.  As soon as the holidays are over, go on a stricter diet and increase your calorie burn rate by moving around more and increasing the amount of exercising that you do.  In fact, you may want to start your weight reduction program right now before the year is over.  You will feel better that you got a head start when the New Year rolls in.  January is well known for being the most profitable month for fitness centers and weight loss programs.  The sad part is that by the time February comes most of that enthusiasm is lost.  There are many things you can do to avoid falling short in your New Year’s resolutions and not giving up on your weight loss goals by February.  For more detail on this subject see the article Ten Tips for Achieving Success With Your New Year Resolutions.

Close Your “Books”

Companies go through a routine every year to close their financial books so that they can understand how they did financially.  You should do the same.  Capture all your year-end expenses and measure how you did against your budget.  Check your net worth.  Just knowing where and how much you spent is a step in the right direction.  At a minimum it will give you the basis for adjusting your budget for the upcoming year.

In addition to closing the books, there are other steps you should take to assure financial success in the New Year:

Set up an Emergency Fund

If you don’t already have an emergency fund, set one up now.  The only thing you can count on in your financial plan for next year is that you will have some unexpected expenses.  In case these expenses are large, you need to have an emergency fund so that you don’t get in debt and end up paying high interest rates on credit cards.  A good rule of thumb is to have three to six months of expenses saved in a money market of savings account.

Look for Lower Rates

Are you paying too much interest on your credit card balance?  Can you transfer your debt to another card that is offering promotional rates on balance transfers?  Be careful not to end up paying more interest on your balance after the promotional period is over, but if you can take advantage of paying low rates while you catch up on your payments this may be a good move.  If you apply for the Discover® More Card you can get 0% interest for 12 months on your balance transfer.  If you have good credit, and pay your bills on time you can even call your current credit card company and ask for a rate reduction.  They may be willing to do that in order to keep you as a customer.

Check Your Credit Report and Score

Your FICO score is one of the most important measures of your financial health and has a huge impact on the amount of interest you pay.  Order a free credit report from all 3 reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian  and TransUnion.  Check that all credit requests are legit to make sure you have not been a victim of identity theft. 

Also check you credit score.  If your score is not satisfactory (at least above 600) then put together a plan to increase your credit score.  To find out more about how to increase your credit score see the article Build Financial Success with a Strong Credit Score.

Review Your Insurance Needs

Your insurance needs may change over time.  If you haven’t reviewed your insurance needs in a while this might be an opportune time to do a review.  Raising the deductable in your homeowners or car insurance can save you some cash in the New Year.  On the other hand, if you are under-insured for health insurance or life insurance, it’s important to make the proper adjustments.  To better understand your insurance needs see the article Insurance – What Do You Really Need?

Assess How You Did Against Last Year’s Goals

It is very important that you assess the goals that you set for yourself in 2007.  Did you achieve all of the goals that you set out to accomplish?  If not, what prevented you from achieving those goals?  Were they too aggressive?  Were you not motivated enough?  Take the lessons learned from last year’s goals as a guidance for setting goals for the New Year.  If you did not set any goals last year, this would be a great opportunity to start.  In order to help you set up smart goals, see the article Smart Goals for Your Success.

Taking care of the basics and setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals for the New Year is essential in being setup for success in 2008.

Wishing you much success in the New Year!