I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
Most New Year’s resolutions are quite shallow. “I’m going to lose weight this year” or “I am going to exercise more” are statistically some of the most common resolutions people make. Try checking in with them in February. They’ve probably either forgotten about their resolutions or have already given up on them.
I know this isn’t always the case. But they’ve certainly never worked for me. Perhaps the reason I dislike resolutions, though, is because they’ve never worked for me.
“I’m going to read my Bible every day this year.” I began several years like this when I was probably 13-15 years old. There were a few problems with this.
1) It was too tight. If I missed one day, it would be “ruined” in my mind. Then I’d slack off since I already “missed” my goal and I’d eventually quit altogether.
2) I would skip devotions all year, but as soon as January came, I thought I could easily jump right into having amazing devotional time every day.
3) The other alternative “I’m going to spend more time with God” is too loose. Without a plan, these words are fairly empty and “more time” could simply mean an extra minute a day, which isn’t necessarily something I could pat myself on the back for.
So I stopped making resolutions.
Setting Goals
Isn’t this the same thing? Maybe. Some people are actually really good at making resolutions. They set a main goal (maybe to lose 20 pounds) and then set a plan to make that goal happen. A resolution “I’m going to work out more” is fairly loose, whereas “I’m going to go to the gym twice a week” has a bit more planning involved.
I don’t like to really set goals on New Year’s anyway. I believe this is something that should be done year-round. I won’t make a list of goals on New Year’s simply for tradition. I do, however, have a list of things that I hope to accomplish within specific timeframes written down in my planner. I come up with these items throughout the year. I have a few rules for myself:
1) The goals should be realistic and logical. For me, these are things like setting a specific amount of pages I want my Honors thesis to be before I graduate. Setting it at 200 pages would be absolutely ridiculous, as I only have a few more months to finalize it. So realistically, I plan to reach 75 pages.
2) They should be something that can be broken down into smaller steps in order to accomplish them. For my thesis, that means not sitting down and writing 75 pages at once, but planning to write a certain amount each week.
My biggest goal right now is probably to get out of debt. I plan to move out someday, but I won’t set that goal until I’m debt free. My plan for this is basically budgeting my money and paying off one debt at a time until they’re gone (and of course, working two jobs!) I just paid off the last of my student loans a few weeks ago, which means once I finish paying off my car, I will be debt free.
Improvements
This doesn’t mean I never try to improve other areas of my life. I believe that as Christians, we should be constantly trying to improve. Stagnancy is dangerous. To be stagnant means to be inactive, dull, or sluggish. We should constantly be pressing towards somewhere higher than where we are now. It’s easy to get caught up in just “going through the motions” of going to church, Bible reading, and prayer. My prayer is that God will constantly be helping me to improve in every way that I can.
This applies to our spiritual lives but also to other areas of life.
Personal Health
Again, why only try to improve this at New Years? This is something we should always be working on. We are created in God’s image. More than this, our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit…. you are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
This can be taken in many different ways, but considering that we have given ourselves to Jesus, and He created us exactly how He wanted us, we should not be trashing our bodies. Your body was given to you as a gift. Treat it like one.
There is, of course, a limit to this if one is being incredibly vain. But simply taking care of the body God has given you is important. Skin care, hair care, being careful about what you eat, getting proper exercise, etc. These are all important to your health.
This subject has become quite important to me lately, and I may touch on it in a future blog since I don’t want to go too far off track with this one. But I believe that as Christians, God wants us to take good care of us, just as He wants us to take good care of his Creation.
Misc. Improvements
A few other things I’ve been doing are journaling and reading more. These are not things that I waited until New Year’s to say “I will journal more this year” or whatever. Instead, I started journaling several years ago. I definitely don’t journal every day, but I do sporadically. This looseness makes it something that I don’t have to stress over, but it is very good for me when I do it because it helps me get my thoughts out. If you read my blog post from last January about devotions (My Struggle With Devotions & 10 Things To Improve Devotional Time), I wrote some about how much having a devotional journal of sorts helps me to think about what I read. Writing almost always helps me think more clearly and I love it.
Reading is something that I have always loved. I remember reading big chapter books in 3rd grade simply because I loved reading more complicated stories than most 3rd grade reading involved. Once I began college, my love of reading seemed to be falling away as I spent hours doing required reading for my classes. More recently though, I began reading “fun” books on the side that were not class-related. Instantly, my love of reading returned. I have made it a point, especially recently, to try to read a couple chapters of something right before bed.
This has been a wonderful lifestyle change for me. I struggle a lot with sleeping after staring at a screen writing papers during the school year. Reading before bed has helped me to fall asleep faster and sleep better in general. Reading is also excellent for your brain. I’m keeping track of the books I read (both school and non-school books) and I’m curious to see how many I will have time for even while working two jobs and taking senior-level classes.
Final Comments
I feel like this blog post is much more disorganized than my typical posts, but it has been on my mind since the New Year. I have high hopes for 2020, and while I didn’t make any resolutions, I will keep working on my goals that I had set previously and strive to be a better person in any way that I can, with God’s help.
2020. Graduation this May. Lots of big events coming up.
Keep going, no matter what.
As always, thanks for reading! Leave comments/questions below if you have them.
Until next time!
“Change is inevitable, but personal growth is a choice.”
Growing in Grace | Stephanie Giles 