I know New Year's Resolutions are not everyone's thing, but they're definitely my thing. I love thinking about the year that just went by and making new resolutions for the coming year based on what learned and what I want to do differently or the same. One of the resolutions I made for this coming year is to be more disciplined and intentional about these blog posts. I'm not going for anything crazy, I just want to write at least one post every week. Seeing as it is still early in the year I wanted to write about my New Year's Resolutions, how they help me, and how they might help you too (not mine, but your own if you decide to make some).What are my New Year's Resolutions? Oh wouldn't you like to know! To be honest, a lot of them are rather personal and so I'm not going to share them here publicly, but it's not something I'm trying to keep secret, so feel free to ask! However, I will share that this year I have made 30 resolutions. I probably took the most time to think about them, and to write them down than I ever did before. They are all typed out and printed on nice thick paper for me to see every day. They are divided by category, all based on how I can better honor the Lord with my life. They involve God's glory in my heart, in my body, in my marriage, in my church, in my schooling, in my ministry, in my family, in my mind, and in my relationships.
So what value and benefit do I see in taking so long to think of and to type these resolutions, all of which are destined to not be perfectly kept even this month?
They Help Me THINK:
I think we could all do with a little bit more introspection. We very rarely make time to evaluate our day at work, our morning, our day, much less our entire year. And yet as December draws to an end, most people find themselves unusually introspective. For some reason the end of the year gives us a chance to be honest with ourselves about ourselves. "Maybe I do need to lose a lot of weight this year (though you if you had asked me a month ago I would have said no)". "Maybe I should make some more time to be with my kids". "I think it's about time I start reading the Bible more consistently". For myself, these past few week of introspection, of evaluating my time, my money, my thoughts, my struggles, my joys, my desires, and my family has been of great help. Regardless of the resolutions there has been a lot of thanksgiving in my life recently and a lot of pleading for change in my own heart for many things in the year to come.
They Help Me AIM:
For some people, making New Year's Resolutions is making a recipe for failure. "It's totally crazy for me to think that for the WHOLE YEAR I'll be able to get up at 6:00AM every day so I can stop being late for work and getting to read my Bible". It might be, it might not. "What's the point of saying I'll get all my homework done before 10:00PM since I know that it won't be the case every time?" I think a lot of us rightly ask, "What is the point of making a resolution you can't fully keep?" For some people not perfectly keeping their resolutions is synonymous with failure. For me, in the very least it gives me a clear view and a clear trajectory for where I want to go and what I want to do. Some of my resolutions are brand new, I just came up with them this year! I have never resolved to pray for my pastors and church leaders every single day - this will take some serious intentionality. These kind of resolutions will probably be the hardest to keep Others, I've had for a few years and I have slowly gotten more focused and disciplined and have truly learned the benefit of continuing to aim in that specific direction.
They Help Me With PURPOSE:
I have found that the fun and sometimes silly resolutions are the ones that fail the most. "I want to be able to count from 1-10 in 10 languages by the end of the year". Sure that sounds kinda fun, and it would be cool to say. The problem with resolutions like these is that they are weak - they lack any kind of proper motivation and purpose other than "just for kicks". Maybe you do see purpose in being able to count to 10 in multiple languages, if so that's great! But for most of us, that resolution is destined to fail. Why? Because resolutions stand and are lived based on purpose, motivation, and conviction. You need something STRONG to carry me through the year waking up at 6:00AM! You're going to need some serious motivation to get me going to the gym three times a week! For this reason thinking about WHY you want to do what you want to do is just as important. I decided this year to base all of my 2014 resolutions on Scripture (yes, even the one about learning Arabic this year). I have a verse that I am hoping carries me through my tendencies to not keep my resolutions.
Am I going to keep all of my resolutions perfectly every day this year? Absolutely not - and I know that. But even the process of coming up with them and thinking so deeply about my life has been tremendously helpful (regardless of how consistent I am in keeping them). I would therefore highly recommend looking at your life, evaluating your year, challenging yourself and committing to a few changes this year!
What about you, do you have any New Year's Resolutions? What's been your experience?
Great post, Andres! I think it can really speak to a lot of people, even if their resolutions may differ from yours. I like your thoughts on not necessarily sticking to a specific resolution (waking up at 6am, for example,) every day of the year, but remembering the purpose of that resolution, which will help you remember why you made it in the first place and give you a long term goal to achieve.
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