New Year's Resolutions

The New Year often prompts us to look back and look forward. We look back at the previous year in a reflective way by contemplating the highs and lows of the previous year. Then we look forward to the upcoming year and set goals for all the improvements we desire to transpire. And so the New Year has become a time to set resolutions--commitments made to specific goals. The most common resolutions fall under the large umbrella of self-improvement--improving one's health (weight loss, eating healthy, breaking a bad habit), one's finances (retire debt, increase savings), one's career (get a job; find a better job), one's emotional well-being (less stress, become more organized) and so on. The interesting thing is that very few people actually achieve the resolutions they set at the beginning of a New Year. Statistics show that any where between 45% and 52% of Americans set one or more New Year's resolutions each year. Of the roughly half of Americans that set such resolutions, only 8% to 12% actually follow through in achieving them. That means that somewhere between 88% to 92% of all New Year's resolutions end in failure. Those are not good odds.

Now I am actually not opposed to making New Year's resolutions. Setting goals can be a good thing. They can focus our energy and effort to achieve something specific and measurable. Most people that achieve success in any area of life have a place for setting goals. You won't make it through college or grad school without working toward the goal of completing all your coursework! The problem is not with making goals, but rather, the way we make them. Sometimes a goal is simply too easy to achieve and thereby fails to be truly motivating. Other times a goal is too difficult or challenging such that it is not even worth attempting. Many times a goal is right in the sweet spot--it is not too easy or too difficult--but there is a failure to count the cost in advance regarding all that is required to achieve that goal. So when things get difficult or overwhelming, the natural response is to give up or throw in the towel.

One of the things I have been learning over the last few years is that the best goals in life can't necessarily be checked off a list. They will never be fully achieved or completed. Sure, you can make smaller goals that can be completed to work toward the larger goal, but the best goals in life reflect a person's values. And living out your values can't be achieved all at once, you can only live out your values one moment at a time. Here are some of the value-based goals I am committed to:

*Practicing the Presence of God -- I truly believe that remaining aware of and surrendered to God's presence is the most foundational practice an individual can engage in--not as an end in and of itself--but as a means to loving God and loving others better. And this is something you will never check off a list. You will never complete this one because you need to renew your commitment to it each moment of your life.

*Eating Healthy -- almost everyone I know (besides the fanatics) wishes they ate a bit healthier--and I am no exception. Developing and engaging in healthy eating habits ultimately involves two components: (a) eating the right foods; and (b) eating the right amounts of those right foods. Eating the right amount of the right foods (while avoiding the tendency to eat the wrong amount of the wrong foods) is the key to a solid diet. But notice, once again, that this is something that can't be checked off a list! We eat multiple times every day! And so any commitment to a healthy diet needs to be renewed each time we decide to put something in our mouths.

*Exercise Regularly -- almost everyone knows that regular exercise is important. But not everyone is willing to do it. Problems arise when a person sets the goal of losing a specific amount of weight without realizing that losing that weight is part of a bigger more value-based goal--namely, being physically fit. Becoming a person who is physically fit is not something you check off a list once and for all. Sure, you can become a physically fit person, but in order to stay that way you need to renew your commitment to that goal on a daily basis.

*Personal Growth -- this is undoubtedly a broad category, but it would encompass your role as a spouse and parent, a friend and family member, an employee and professional. And personal growth in any of these areas will never be complete. Growth will only come one day, one decision, one interaction at a time.

The most important goals in life are value-based goals that determine the kind of person you are becoming. The most important goal or decision that you and I can make is to become a more devoted and faithful follower of Jesus Christ. We will never arrive. We will never check it off the list. But we can renew our commitment to it one moment at a time as we progress through life.