We’re all moving into the new year - and decade, which only compounds things - with that classic January combo of optimism for a bright future and a nagging awareness of the old bad habits that always seem to hold us back. When it comes to financial new year’s resolutions, our ambitions (“save twenty grand!”) often seem to outstrip our abilities (“don’t buy new shoes every Saturday”).

So how might we prioritise and organise our goals so that January 2021 doesn’t greet us with a wardrobe full of unworn sexy heels and a load of fresh new debt?

The first step has got to be to look at your current budget and get real with what’s going on. How much is going in and out each month? What are your most expensive debts? Where could you make savings? This will tell you whether you’re actually in a position to start saving for big things, or whether 2020 should be the year of getting a handle on your daily spending habits.

There’s a psychological buzzword that has been knocking around for decades and that’s SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. These are the qualities that all workable goals have in common. Let’s break down how these might look in your own financial planning list (and do make a written list of your resolutions or even a spreadsheet – it’s been proven to help focus your mind and achieve success).

• Specific goals: there’s no use just writing “save a ton of cash” on your list. It’s too unwieldy and vague. Sort your ambitions into short, mid and long term aims and keep them really precise. So a short term goal might be “have a weekend in Paris” or, even better, “pay off Christmas”. A mid-term one could be about buying a new car or going back to college, and a long term goal will likely be pension, retirement or child-related.

• Measurable and Achievable goals: these two are linked because being able to calibrate how your journey is going can be a real motivator for achieving the ultimate prize. After looking at your budget and assessing how much you can realistically put away each month, figure out how long it will take you, by that rationale, to meet the first goal on your list, which is hopefully something commensurate with your general position in life (rather than a crazy pie-in-the-sky pipe dream like buying a fleet of yachts). That way there’ll be a satisfying box to tick every month when you’ve passed each stepping stone.

• T is supposed to be for Timely, but as we’ve covered that in the paragraph above I’m going to make it stand for TREATS. Because you’re going to need a few rewards along the way to keep you motivated. In an ideal world, seeing our list getting ticked off incrementally month by month would be enough to keep us going towards our goals, but let’s be real. If you’ve given up your weekday craft coffee and cancelled your premium tv subscriptions in order to save up for a new car, you deserve a silly Saturday morning coffee and an online movie rental. Little indulgences like these are part of feeling good about life and are not to be confused with drunkenly buying underwear from Coco de Mer after a bad day.

As with all things money-related, the key concepts here are being organised, getting real and being kind to yourself. Because you know what? You might fail to meet your goals this time, and indeed find yourself this time next year with the proverbial (or not) mountain of nice shoes and scary bank statement. But you thought about doing better, you figured out what you want, you strategized, and most importantly you learned something about yourself in the process. Maybe you learned that your goals were too lofty? Or that you really need to establish a working monthly budget before making big plans. Maybe even that you need the help of a financial counsellor, saving buddy or better communication with your partner to get your finances into better shape. Well, that’s all part of the journey.

So whatever form your resolutions take and however many months, years or decades it takes you to get fully on track to accomplishing them, just know that you can do it! You’ve already taken the first step by reading Vestpod today.