How Have Your Resolutions Been Going?
HELLO FRIENDS,
Right about now, most, if not all, of our new year resolutions have worn off, making them a distant memory of good intentions mixed with slight regret. I’m not being a pessimist, but rather, a realist.
And the data supports this. An annual Forbes Health poll found:
• 62% say they feel pressured to set a new year’s resolution.
• 48% of people say improving fitness is a top priority in 2024 while 36% cite improved mental health as a top resolution.
• 80% of respondents feel confident in their ability to reach their goals, and only 6% lack this confidence.
• 86% of respondents say their new year’s resolution will have a positive impact beyond 2024. 29% say that their resolution will have a positive impact for one to two years, and 57% believe it’ll have an impact for three years or more.
If you, like myself, are in the camp of setting lofty goals for the new year only to find yourself falling off the wagon just months (or weeks) later, rest assured that you’re not alone.
In fact, failing at New Year’s resolutions is so common that there’s even a few (unofficial) dates commemorating such failures—such as January 17: “Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day,” and the second Friday in January as “Quitter’s Day.”
The reason I am writing about this right now, in March 2024, is because the Forbes Health survey found that the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months. That’s right about now!
With that in mind, I want to offer two things:
1. A Scripture: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
This verse has been a source of strength for me in times when I have wanted to give up on way more than just my fitness, eating, and Bible reading goals. It’s a reminder that if we keep going in life, there is a harvest that awaits us.
2. A Challenge: I was on a Zoom call last week about mental health and burnout and I learned about a concept called the “Ecosystem of Well-being.” This is being touted as a new term for “self-care.” Regardless of how you define it, I appreciate the idea of an “ecosystem.” It means that we cannot function as a silo, alone and on our own. We need one another: friendships, accountability, church, family, co-workers, etc. For us to truly “not give up” it will take an entire ecosystem of well-being.
Do you have YOUR ecosystem in place? Let me challenge you to get people around you that will support you in the goals you have set for your life.
And when and if you find that your resolutions are a distant memory of good intentions mixed with slight regret, don’t be discouraged. Just start again…right now!
Grace & Peace,
John