Reframing New Year's Resolutions

I've never been a New Year's Resolver. In days gone by I've had a pretty low view of those who make NYR's. I believe this mostly comes from my experience with the kinds of resolutions people make and how often they are kept. I mean, hardly anyone makes them to begin with and those who do tend to stick with things like lose weight, exercise more, watch less TV or even the ever so nobel read my bible or pray more. Those resolutions are good ones to make but it seems to me that the percentage of people who keep their resolutions is about negative 10 to the ninth power. In other words, practically no one.

I think it's because we need to reframe NYR's. See, because so many people fail to take the resolutions seriously we fail to take them seriously - at least that's my theory. So my solution is to come up with a list of goals I want to accomplish in 2009. I know, I know - what's the difference? Nothing in reality. But practically sometimes renaming something flips a switch in our minds and gets us to think differently and act differently.

So, what about you? Are you a successful resolver or are you like me and need to reframe? Either way I've come to think that setting goals for your year is a really good thing. Its highly unlikely that you'll become the person you mean to become or more correctly the person God wants you to become if you don't spend some time thinking about what that looks like and how you're going to get there. Perhaps you could start with the traditional catergories: spiritual and physical. Set a goal for each of those and if you achieve them you'll be much better off at the end of 2009.