OK, New Year’s resolutions, and the month of January have passed.
More frequently this year I heard people saying they don’t even set those types of resolutions anymore — and certainly heard lots of speculation about the average amount of time a New Year’s resolution is actually kept.
Sure enough, Mick at his blog at InsideOut Mastery did the research work for me. He has been watching it for a few years and has not seen much change in the stats. Do these surprise you?
- 38.5% of US adults set New Year’s resolutions every year.
- 59% of young adults (18-34) have New Year’s resolutions, which makes it the largest demographic that sets these goals.
- 48% want to exercise more, making it the most popular New Year’s resolution. The top 3 are all health-related.
- 23% quit in the first week, and only 36% make it past the first month.
- 9% successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions.
So 9% of the 38.5% of adults find success in this method.
Makes me wonder — What is behind our desire to make any resolution for change? And why is that not working so well? What is really going on?
Mick pointed out that New Year’s resolutions date back 4,000 years to the Babylonians, as they celebrated their first barley harvest (actually in March, not January). So the motivation was in action even back then.
We all want a good life – want things to go well for us – are looking for ways we can improve our personal comfort, circumstances, and the world surrounding us personally. In our “independent” way, we are looking for what we can do to make that improved life happen.
Henry Blackaby’s devotional gave me the big clue to these answers. His statement was that “[we] never have to guess how we should live.” So that does reflect that at least we might KNOW how we want to live. Why don’t we follow it?
Mick’s research showed that the reasons the New Year’s resolutions fail are primarily these – people are not ready to commit and give up because either they lose motivation or have not prioritized their goals, or they swap their resolutions for newer, more relevant personal goals. The successful individuals reported more stimulus control and willpower (no surprise there). However, even the successful individuals had “slip-ups” during a 2-year interval.
Lesson to be learned here? The best moment to start a resolution is whenever you are ready to commit to your goals – and they need to be the most relevant ones for you.
Nobody knows “motivation” stuff better than Blackaby – probably because he draws it from Scripture. Duh!
Back to Blackaby’s statement that we never have to guess how we should live. His reason is that “God never conceals His expectations from us.” I’m thinking I probably would like those expectations to be stated very clearly, with no doubt left in me as to what I need to do. And I will be checking if they are too difficult or uncomfortable for me, right?
Yep – I know we have the 10 commandments – and I think I know those pretty well. But as I think further, I know a major one is “Do not worship any other god…” but I can start ruminating on “worship” and ‘god”. What is worship, really – I can be in church on Sundays most weeks. And are those wooden statues the “other god” things – easy, peasy, right?
Not so fast. Ken Sande has taught me well in the mediation training that we can make ‘anything’ a god. Turns out, anything we value (worship) more than God the Father falls into that “idol” basket: not just money, status and those obvious ones, but also having the perfect children, perfect spouse, a very high standard for home décor – or cleanliness—or even being the best in our profession. Any of those can turn into idols. Scary, huh?
Blackaby takes us back to the Old Testament prophet, Micah, who was dealing with apostate Israelites in southern Judah about 700 years before Christ. He was dealing with the misguided ways people sought to please God (don’t we all want to be found pleasing in God’s eyes?). They were asking Micah what kind of offerings they needed to bring God – a thousand rams? Rivers of oil? Firstborn child? (Micah 6:6-7)
Note these were actions they thought would then require God to be pleased with them. Don’t we just love to control that?
Not so fast. Micah’s response to them about what God does and does not expect from them was straightforward:
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
Three things God desires – (and Blackaby explains so well)
- He wants us to show justice. Not just receive justice but be absolutely just in the way we treat others. Acting justly in every relationship.
- We are to love mercy. Just remembering we have received undeserved mercy from God should motivate us to show mercy to others. Resist temptation to retaliate against those who have wronged us, but show mercy.
- We are to walk humbly with Him. Not spectacular acts of service – humility. And walking with Him.
Why do we avoid confronting what God has clearly told us to do? Could it be the same reasons as New Year’s resolutions not being kept? Not ready to commit? Lose motivation? Not prioritizing our goals well? And not surprisingly, swapping out God’s way for newer, more relevant (we think) personal goals?
Now I remember why I chose Micah 6:8 as my “life verse” – it is so clear, focused and gets my mindset in the right place. He knew I would need constant reminding of walking “humbly” with Him. Which is the only way I can get the other 2 parts accomplished in any situation.
Are you ready to commit to the goals you have? And are they the most relevant ones to your life? Where do you draw the wisdom to guide you?
Hoping this has been a good exercise to stimulate a review of your life verse or verses!
