New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep

Statistics show that 80% of people admit to abandoning their new year’s resolutions by February. So for every 10 people reading this, only 2 will actually keep their resolutions for any length of time.

As the New Year rolls around, what resolutions are you making? In the past have you been successful in reaching your goals? If not, would you like to see your resolutions actually become a reality?

Here are some New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep.

What is a New Year’s Resolution?

If you are not from the Western World, you may wonder what is a New Year’s resolution. According to Wikipedia, it is:

” … a tradition, most common in the Western World but also found in the Eastern World, in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their behavior. “

What are the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions?

Because New Year’s Resolutions are typically a Western World thing, health and fitness are some of the top goals. This includes:

• Exercise more
• Eat more healthy
• Lose weight
• Quit smoking or drinking

Finances are also in the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

• Save more
• Spend less

And finally, resolutions include personal and relational goals:

• Spend more time with family and friends
• Travel to new places
• Learn a new skill or hobby
• Get organized

Keeping New Year’s resolutions

New Year’s resolution statistics are grim. Why do most people fail at keeping them?

• They are not realistic (lacking the resources to accomplish the goal or trying to make too much change in too short a time)
• Getting the cart before the horse
• Not planning ahead for how to keep going when the going gets rough
• The goals were too vague with no way to measure progress
• The resolution was never shared with a friend, family member, or coach who could give encouragement
• Beating ourselves up over a one or two-day slip instead of saying, “tomorrow is another day.”
• Not sticking with it long enough to become a habit (minimum of 21 days)

One of the most important reasons that New Year’s resolutions fail is that they require a change in our thinking. It is as simple as that.

Unique and Simple New Year’s Resolutions that you can accomplish

Why are Biblical resolutions more attainable than most other resolutions? The biggest reason is that you are not doing it alone.

But, we must not get the “cart before the horse.” There are some things that need to happen before we can expect God’s help in accomplishing our goals.

Pre-requisites for keeping Biblical New Year’s resolutions

These prerequisites for keeping our New Year’s resolutions come from the book of Titus, chapter 2, verses 11-14.

1. Verse 11- we must be in a relationship with Jesus through Salvation.
2. Verse 12 – we need to have instruction through reading and studying the Scriptures.
3. Verse 13 – we need hope which changes our perspective on everything.
4. Verse 14 – when we know Jesus we have the power to do the right things.

New Year’s resolutions that you can actually keep

Whenever we ask God for help doing His will, He is excited to give us the strength to do it. These resolutions are Biblical. They are what God wants for us.

1. To know God better (Philippians 3:10).
2. Grow in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). For instance, if we are having trouble with self-control in certain areas of our life we can ask God to help us with it.
3. Strive to do everything for the honor and glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). So if we need to stop smoking, or exercise more, this can be committed to God and shared with Christian friends for the encouragement we need.
4. Be more forgiving. This includes when we are hurting, forgiving our parents, and even forgiving ourselves.
5. Becoming more like Jesus (Romans 8:29 and Romans 12:1-2). This comes by changing our thoughts which is a process of reading the Bible, memorizing Bible verses, and meditating on Scripture.
6. Desiring to pray more. This does not have to be anything fancy. It is like talking to your best friend. And the more we get to know Jesus, He will be our best friend!

Can we accomplish all of this in one year? Well if we want to be perfect, then no. But we can in bite-size increments grow in our spiritual life.

Over time, small steps in the right direction lead to rock-solid habits that bring honor and glory to God.

How to know you are making progress

One of the best ways to know that you are making progress in your spiritual life is by keeping a journal. That may sound daunting to some readers but it really isn’t.

Journalling is simply writing what you are learning about God and yourself as you read the Bible and pray. It is also making notes of when you were able to do some of the listed resolutions. Over time, you will find that reading your journal can be a source of encouragement.

If you need more suggestions on how to journal, here are 100 journal prompts for spiritual growth.

Final thoughts

So what is one of your New Year’s resolutions? Will you share it in the comments as well as what you will do to be successful in accomplishing that goal?

Please don’t overlook the fact that these goals are based on a relationship with Jesus.

If you don’t know Jesus, you probably have questions. The people at Chat About Jesus have answers. You can text, call, or chat with them online any time of the day or night.