It’s now January 4. We are four days into 2021. And I have a question for you: Did you set goals or resolutions for this new year?
In the past, I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with so-called “New Year’s Resolutions.” Sometimes, I’ll set them. Sometimes, I won’t. And of the times I do set them, I must admit that my track record for long-term goals has not been great.
And therein lies the problem with New Year’s Resolutions.
It’s good to let the arrival of a New Year lead us to reflect on the direction of our lives and prayerfully consider where we might improve. All that is good.
But it’s counter-productive, in my opinion, to let one day on the calendar (in this case, January 1) cause us an undue amount of stress.
Setting goals is not about achieving perfection. Setting goals is about choosing a direction.
Let me repeat that: Goal-setting is about direction, not perfection.
If you use New Year’s Resolutions to help point your life in new and better directions, that’s a good thing.
But too many of us (and I definitely say “us”) fall into the trap of…
Okay, I set a goal to (let’s say for sake of illustration) read my Bible every morning before going to work.
For the first few days of the New Year, you get up, read your Bible, pray, and then get ready for work. Success!
But then something happens. You get sick. A family emergency. Some kind of unforeseen circumstance arises. Or…maybe…you just drop the ball. Either way, you slip up. Reading your Bible doesn’t happen. And off to work you go without having done what you set out to do in your New Year’s Resolutions.
What then? Do you quit? Do you beat yourself up?
I failed! Again!
I guess I need to wait again until next year to try these New Year’s Resolutions once more.
This is all counter-productive.
You are not perfect. Neither am I.
We all fall short of the glory and perfection of God. All of us.
That means you will (at least periodically) slip up, mess up, trip up, or foul up. It will happen.
The question is… What then?
If your expectation was perfection, you’re likely to be overwhelmed with guilt and discouragement. But…
If your expectation was simply establishing a new direction and setting some new and better habits, then you’re more likely to pick yourself off the mat and keep fighting.
Keep fighting for that “new you.”
My encouragement: If you do the whole New Year’s Resolution thing, think Direction, not Perfection.
God bless you and Happy New Year!
