New Years Resolutions

I like New Year’s Day, and it’s not just because of the party food and football games. I like to think of it as “reboot day”. It’s a mental thing. Yes, we can make a decision to reboot on any day of the year, but there’s just something about a new year that makes our resolutions more official and legitimate. It’s a chance for the first day of something new.Over the years, I have heard comments like, “Making New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time, besides most people never follow through.” That may be true, but they are missing the point. It’s not about how long you will last, but it’s about the fact that you saw a need, constructed a plan and made a decision.

For as many years as I can remember, I have made some sort of New Year’s resolution, and most of the time I fell by the wayside on my commitment. But on a few occasions I followed through and developed life changing habits. I look at it like the game of baseball. The most successful hitters fail 70% of the time. For every 10 times they stand at the plate they only get 3 hits. But it’s the 30% success rate that makes them a champion. It’s not about hitting a home run, but about making enough good swings to get you around the bases to score.

Where would we be if we hadn’t decided to draw a line in the sand and make a decision to do something to improve our life? You can’t improve your life if you don’t take a risk and try.

Why make a New Year’s resolution, knowing that there’s a good chance that we will bail somewhere along the way? Because every plan, however short lived, results in incremental changes.

Bottom Line
Make a bold decision this year. Draw a line in the sand and make one or more life changing resolutions. For some, that may be to read the Bible through in one year, or set a goal to read at least one self-improvement book this year. For some, it would be connecting with a small group at your church. For others it could be a decision to make a really bold step, like getting married, losing weight, starting a new business or changing jobs.

Whatever your resolution, take time to write it down, develop a plan, determine to see it through, and then make yourself accountable.

“Commit your actions to the LORD and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3