Happy New Year! It’s prime time Reset Higher season! Most of us are extra motivated to tackle that thing – or things – we want to improve in our life. We imagine turning the page when the ball drops in Times Square and beginning a fresh new chapter of our lives.
Let’s think of this day as a checkpoint to reflect on the past year and answer a few questions honestly:
What areas of my life did I improve?
What goals did I reach?
Did I stay on course, steady in my commitments?
Where did I fall short of what I resolved to do last year at this time?
Have I added any new habits or compromises that are pulling me down?
Let’s dig a little deeper and answer these questions too:
What was the reason I stayed committed and followed through?
What was the reason I gave up?
What was the reason I added unhealthy habits?
The answer to every question is, you made a choice. Even in circumstances beyond your control, you still had the power to do more of the good and less of the bad.
From my own experience – and I think for most of us – the success of big one-and-done, cold turkey decisions are rare. But they are possible! Maybe you’ve resolved to quit smoking or drugs or another habit, or do a “dry January” to stop drinking. The real test comes on February 1, doesn’t it? Will you continue?
In my life, the most powerful changes haven’t come from New Year’s Eve resolutions that I made to “always do this forever” or “I’ll never do that again!” Those words are easy to say – and we’ve all said them! It’s when the emotions wear off on January 2nd…January 3rd…March 17th…. that’s when you’ll need to make a next level decision to either keep the promise you made to yourself or break it. Again, it’s your choice!
For me, the best changes I’ve made in my life have come from a chain of small and steady choices – one at a time. For example, more than once I’ve resolved to read through the Bible in a year and I’ve completed it several times. It was ok that I wasn’t perfect 365 days in a row because if something came up, I got right back on the horse and read more the next day. I made the choice over and over again to not quit. The same goes for exercise, or weight loss, or anything else you want to accomplish.
When we become believers in Jesus Christ, we aren’t alone when we struggle to do what’s right for us. We can pray and ask Him for help to make better choices and follow through on them. He’ll always support these decisions, giving us His strength to break any chains that bind us to what harms us and give us victory and freedom instead. Here’s a strong promise to claim from 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT):
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
There’s God’s part – and OUR part. If you’re in a place where you shouldn’t be and God opens the door for you to leave and do what’s right, you need to walk through it. Quickly. You’ll overcome the temptation every time you use it. To keep your commitment to change, some things will need to go. Then better things can replace them.
My best friend Diane, who’s in Heaven now, was a life coach and fitness instructor. The title she used was “Habit Hacker.” Here are a couple of her helpful pro tips I use for a little extra kick in the pants when I need it to keep my commitments:
- When you want to do the thing you need to change, say “not today.” Let the moment and emotions pass. Walk away. If you’re tempted tomorrow, say it again. You’ll build a better habit.
- If you’re more impulsive than wise in your decision making, use this to create a gap to slow things down before doing something you’ll regret. Tell yourself, “It’s not forever, it’s just for now” and stop. This diffuses the “urgency” by delaying it. In many situations, that extra time is enough to allow you to let it go and see how what you were about to do wasn’t a good choice.
Make small and steady decisions every day this year and stay the course. You’ll see one good choice lead to another and another.
RESET HIGHER: We can reset higher any and every day of the year, not just on New Year’s day!
What’s on your list?
If you’d like to read the entire Bible this year, go to youversion.com/bible-app to download their app and find one of their easy to follow plans to read or listen to.
