Three ways Spanish property can help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions

Buying in Spain can help you achieve other life goals, too

If you can’t dream about the life you wish to lead in the first few weeks of January, then when can you? Shorn of the excesses of Christmas and cleansed by the ticking-over of a brand new year, the month lies before you like a blank canvas of opportunity.

Many people resolve towards a year of self-improvement, often making ambitious New Year’s resolutions that to achieve them would require huge changes to one’s lifestyle and personality…

A difficult thing to do, of course. You are who you are, after all. But although change happens incrementally – choosing to cycle to work, cutting back on sugary desserts, staying in on a Friday night to save some pennies – sometimes a bold move is just the trigger required to bring about further drastic changes in your lifestyle.

Which is why finally taking the plunge and purchasing a property in Spain this year will not only deliver incredible joy, but could also set you firmly down the path towards achieving these three common New Year’s resolutions…

Learning a new language
That language being Spanish, obviously. As a Brit, what you need to do is overcome the mental block – forged by decades of media and hearsay reaffirming this point – which states that Brits are terrible with languages. We’re not. You’re not. As a rule, native English speakers are advantaged in that English is so commonly spoken, but disadvantaged when it comes to actually learning another language because the pressing need to do so is not there.

Spaniards, Germans, the French, the Scandinavians etc don’t need to learn English, but in doing so their social circles widen, their travel options expand and their career prospects flourish. English-speakers don’t have that carrot dangling before them.

But if you buy a property in Spain, suddenly you do. Of course, the Costa del Sol is great for monolinguists or those who are too shy to try – English is widely spoken. And yes, the process of buying in Spain is made easier by the fact that most notaries, estate agents (such as VIVA’s multilingual team) and lawyers will speak English. But by owning and perhaps living in Spain, the incentive to learn Spanish is immense – and is possibly just the kickstart your dormant linguistic talent needs.

Sorting out your finances
To save more money – a common resolution. But to what end? For those shoes you’ve had your eyes on? A better car? A nice holiday in the sunshine? Or maybe for a stylish and affordable two-bedroom apartment on the Costa del Sol? If the thought of that last one being turned into a reality doesn’t tighten your purse strings then nothing will.

With property on the Costa del Sol more affordable in 2014 than it has been for many a year, and with the pound set to perform strongly against the euro this year, now could well be the time to finally make real on that dream of owning a Spanish property. Just think – your very own slice of paradise in the sunshine, complete with pool, views of the Mediterranean and access to all that southern Spain has to offer right on your doorstep.

An incredible incentive to save, don’t you think?

Get fit and lose weight
Spaniards enjoy some of the longest life spans in the world, enjoying the healthiest diet and leading the longest ‘healthy’ lives in the western world.

Fancy a slice of that? Well, by owning a place in Spain you will be regularly exposed to exactly what it is that makes life in Spain so healthy: the lack of processed, pre-packed convenience food; the abundance of fresh and affordable fruit and vegetables; a diet rich in olive oil and fish; a wonderful climate that pretty much forces you outdoors more often, meaning you drink more water (great for the skin and for flushing out toxins), move more (great for muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness), are exposed to higher levels of vitamin D (great for the metabolism) and are very much likely to socialise more, too (great for mental wellbeing).

Yes, life in Spain is good for you on so many levels. Of course, owning a Spanish property isn’t as simple as merely reaching into one’s pockets and stumping up the cash, but as an incentive to self-betterment, it’s a realisable dream that is well worth striving for.