It’s that time of year – the time for a new year’s resolution. But not for me. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. But given the sudden influx at my gym, I think others do. According to U.S. News & World Report, 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. This means that most of you reading this have already given up on your New Year’s resolutions by now. Last December you had made up in your mind that you were going to redefine, reinvent or rewire yourself and now I suppose you’ll have to wait until next year.
Here’s why I’m a non-believer when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. We celebrate New Year’s Day as though the fact that we’ve rolled over from December to January means that something magical has happened. In reality it’s just the next day after New Year’s Eve. It carries absolutely no special powers. If it was a good idea to exercise more, go on a diet, stop smoking, recommit your life to Christ, go Vegan, fast, pray more, cut people out of your life, make purposeful connections or any of the other things people claim to commit to in the new year, then it was also a good idea to do those things last September when you first thought about them.
I apologize if I’m pouring salt in the wound of your failed New Year’s resolution, but I have good news. There is a solution. We each need to resolve in our mind to think differently and thereby act differently. It all starts in your mind. The fulfillment of your purpose will eventually be seen but not until there is a shift in your mind. There is no rule that says you have to wait until the New Year in order to make better or healthier decisions. There is also no rule that says a failed resolution has to stay that way.
A DECIDED MIND
Decisions are important. Decisions shift your life from one direction to the next. Decisions determine destiny…for better or for worse. This is why our decisions should not be isolated or aimless. Your purpose-related decisions should come with a vision. Vision is concerned with what will be and what you will do and who you will become. This means that you can’t make a decision solely based upon how you feel right now.
Your decision should not be based on what you see others succeeding at but rather should align with what your gifts will allow you to succeed at. The reason you see people excelling is because they have made up their minds and made decisions in line with their gifts and passions. They didn’t luck up. They mastered the process. They mastered their mind.
A DETERMINED MIND
Determination is defined as firmness of purpose. It means you have fortitude and resolve. However, there is an underlying premise within that definition. It is this: in order to demonstrate resolve and fortitude you need obstacles. A clear path never tests the determination of the traveler. Only rock-strewn terrain with hills, valleys and curves can adequately reveal the determination of the traveler.
In life, when we encounter hills, valleys, rocks and curves it is not a physical test but a mental one. As the saying goes, it’s ‘mind over matter.’ In his book, “All Buts Stink” (possibly my favorite book title ever!), Walter Bond writes, “Often, it appears as if life brings us challenges just to see what we are made of. If everything were always perfect in your life, how would you know the extent of your character?” No purpose worth fulfilling has ever been accomplished by an undetermined individual.
A DEPLOYED MIND
Once you have decided how to proceed and determined in your mind that quitting is not an option, it’s time to deploy. No one remembers those with great ideas that never materialized. Those ideas were birthed and died in the mind of that individual. You can’t just be passionate about having an idea. You must be passionate about generating, growing and grooming that idea.
Furthermore, if you don’t have true passion for what you’ve made up in your mind to do then you won’t sustain with that decision and you will end up dejected and depressed because ‘life isn’t working out for you.’ Then you’ll be right back in the “Failed Resolutions Club.” Motivational speaker Willie Jolley said, “A decision without action is simply an illusion. An action without vision is mere confusion. Yet a vision plus decisive action can change the world.”
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