Happy New Year…Happy New YOU!

I’m not big on resolutions, but I am big on commitments. As we prepare to enter 2019, let me give you a few keys to making sure you’re able to follow through on your commitments:

1-Make them realistic. Don’t go from not working out at all to committing to a 2-hour-a-day regiment. You’re setting yourself up for failure. Commit to getting started. Start small and let it grow. If you’re not used to reading your Bible regularly, start with 1 chapter a day. Do something you know you can realistically follow through with, and then watch that commitment grow.

2-Tell a friend. We typically won’t follow through with something if we don’t share it with others. You want to eat better? Tell your family. You want to go to church regularly? Share it with a couple of friends who go. Accountability is HUGE in your ability to succeed in becoming a new you. Even seemingly private things like prayer and Bible study have a better chance of success if you tell a few other people what you’re doing and share with them what you’re learning.

3-Narrow the focus. I’d simply encourage to focus on one or two commitments. Get them rolling and experience some success with them. Then, you can look at other areas of your life in which you’d like to see some improvement. Don’t overwhelm yourself with tons of goals.

4-Don’t leave out the spiritual. There are a lot of worthy goals and commitments we could all have. Those things, whether food, health, exercise, financial freedom, or a myriad of other things can have a huge impact on our lives. However, there is NO CHANGE like the CHANGE Jesus can bring to our lives. If you do nothing else, make 2019 a year where you choose to follow Him with everything you’ve got!

“Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Mark 8:34-37 MSG)