Resolute in the New Year

It’s that time again!

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I think because New Year’s Resolutions often don’t last or are forgotten after several months, some people give up even making them. Others even encourage people not to for this very reason. I disagree. I think they are fantastic! Even if a ‘resolution’ only lasts three months, that’s three months of bettering one’s self. So I say go for it!

Evaluation and reflection are always healthy, and new habits start with some effort in a new or corrective direction. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a new years resolution I was still thinking about in November, but I know they have served to keep moving me in the right direction. Having a better year than your last is a great motivator.

Resolute means: “admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering”

I agree, it is admirable to be purposeful – to be determined to be better. An unwavering focus is never a bad thing, even if it wavers a bit over time… a ship that corrects its course for awhile, even if a storm or neglect gets it off course later, will still be closer to its destination for the time it worked to stay on course. That’s why I like the annual reminder to do a course correction. Maybe we need Summer Resolutions and Fall Resolutions too in order to renew these new year’s commitments?

As you reflect on a New Year, what goes through your mind? New opportunities? New habits you’d like to form? Books you’d like to read? Changes in your character you’d like to see? Better physical habits? (lose weight?) Places you’d like to see or projects you’d like to complete?

If you would like to take a systematic approach to evaluating and planning for the new year, let me encourage you to check out Kidology’s Leadership Lab #5 – Define, Refine and Shine. This lab will guide you through a process of listing, organizing, evaluating and choosing what matters most and set some priorities for the new year. (There are other ministry evaluation tools on Kidology if you search for them there.)

But do take some time to reflect on your new year and how you’d like it to be better than 2013. Go for a walk or go for a drive to a quite place – but whatever you do, even if you can only get away to a coffee shop, take some time to reflect and write down some goals for the new year. Writing them down is key – things somehow become more real the moment they are written down. Next, share your goals with someone you trust, someone who will nudge you but not nag you and drop it if you ask them to.

Then go for it!

It’s not about perfection, it’s about course correction. Moving a little more in the right direction each year.

If you’d like to post your resolutions to encourage others and have a record of your goals, post them in this Kidology Forum thread.

 

 

 

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