Make Meaningful Resolutions

Did you accomplish your 2018 goals? Or did your best intentions fall by the wayside before spring was underway?

If you’re having trouble carrying out your New Year resolutions, thinking about changes that would be be the most meaningful to you may help motivate you. It may also help to reframe your personal goals to go beyond self-improvement, and find ways to benefit the world around you.

Need help getting started? Here are a few ideas:

  • Take time for self-reflection
    To know what changes you want to bring to your life, it helps to understand what your core values are. Spend a little time thinking about who you are as a person, what has shaped your life, and how you’d like to shape your future. This can help you focus your efforts where they are most important to you.
  • Take the next (or first) step into philanthropy
    Have you been meaning to understand more about options for charitable giving? Good news: you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. YouthBridge and your trusted advisors can both provide insight into options for deciding which assets you’d like to donate, identifying the right investment vehicles for your donations, and help you select recipients. And the work you did to identify your core values will serve as a personal compass to guide your giving journey.
  • Declutter and simplify
    Do you feel like you just have too much “stuff?” Did you know that YouthBridge (and many other charitable organizations) can accept non-cash assets, including things like stamp or coin collections? If you have too many things in the attic, but they’re worth too much to throw away, see if their value can be used to benefit others.
  • Get organized
    Does tracking down receipts and statements make tax time extra stressful? A donor-advised fund is a simple and centralized way to organize your charitable giving, and creates one itemized statement of all your tax-deductible donations for easy accounting.