Forget About Goals
Happy New Year, everybody!
Today is January 6th…how is your new year going so far? Have you established new goals for your new year? Goals sound a lot more sophisticated than “resolutions,” don’t they?
It’s been said that resolutions are promises we make to ourselves that we don’t intend to keep. Lots of people half-heartedly make resolutions to “be healthier” or “exercise more” or “read the Bible in a year.” But most resolutions lack clarity, actionability, and maybe even worse, they lack a plan to get there.
Goals are usually a little more concrete. Goal setting is a worthwhile exercise to engage in. I’ve often read, and think it’s probably true, that a written goal is far more likely to succeed than a goal that hasn’t been written. So, taking time to think about where you are headed in life and coming up with some measurable, realistic goals can be a great way to start the new year.
Sometimes though, goals seem as hard to achieve as a well-intentioned resolution. Don’t you have a list of missed goals? I do.
Why is it so hard to get positive traction in life?
This Sunday, we are starting a new series called “Creatures of Habit.” In preparation, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts on the subject of making positive life changes. One idea that I have come upon consistently in my research is that the greatest way to enact lasting change in your life is to make small, incremental changes that become habitual.
Many of us struggle to make positive changes in our lives because we have habits that work against us. You don’t lose the weight you want to lose because you have habits that sabotage your progress. Habits like drinking sodas and sweet teas instead of water or stopping at fast food restaurants for a quick bite. Many of us have goals to read more, but we have habits of watching tv that work against the goal of reading more. Our habits are undoing us.
We don’t just need new goals…we need new habits.
To add new habits, we probably need to get rid of some bad habits.
The good news is that real-life transformation is possible! Our memory verse for our new series is Romans 12:2, which says: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Personal transformation IS possible, and the good news is that God wants to work with us in this transformation process. It’s more His work than ours, but we have a role to play too. We need to change how we think. By changing our thought patterns, we can change our life patterns. I hope you will join me this Sunday for the start of this series, where we will be looking at some new habits that will bring about significant positive change for you this year.
Blessings,
Pastor Jamey
PS What habits are holding you back? I came across an interesting article while researching for our new series. Give it a read by clicking here. I hope it helps you!