New Year's Resolutions

The beginning of a new year invariably invites people to take stock of their lives and "resolve" to make some changes. It's a good thing to endeavor to make positive changes in our lives and the new year provides a natural opportunity to examine ourselves and seek to make some of those positive changes.

But New Year's Resolutions aren't often very successful in making those real changes. I find myself making resolutions or commitments to some kind of change in behavior in most years. My success has been a bit spotty. Sometimes it really makes a difference, and at other times it doesn't last long. The most common New Year's Resolutions have to do with exercising more, changing eating habits, quitting smoking or drinking, etc. I suspect that a lot of folks don't do too well with those. Others have to do with "spending more time with family" or some other relationship oriented issue. I suspect those don't fare too well, either. Some of them are so general and vague like "enjoy life more" that it would be difficult to measure whether you've accomplished it or not.

I read about an interesting study that gave some tips on being successful in maintaining New Year's Resolutions . It was done in Great Britain (See walesonline.co.uk)and involved about 3,000 test subjects. It found that there is usually only about a 10% success rate on New Year's Resolutions. One in ten. That's not very good. But the study also found some ways that people tend to be more successful - and that the methods for success were somewhat different for men and women. Men triple their success at a resolution if they make a specific goal or target, with small, incremental measurable goals (like losing a pound a week), rather than an undefined, non-specific goal (like losing weight). Women, on the other hand, double their success at a New Year's Resolution if they told somebody - went public - with their commitment. Then they received support from their friends.

This, I think points out two very important principles - even spiritual principles - about life change: Making specific commitments that can be measurable and loving accountability in keeping those commitments. Ingenious qualities that led to the effectiveness of the early Methodist movement were these principles. The early Methodists, once they experienced the pardoning grace of God in Jesus Christ, didn't make some vague commitment to grow in grace. They committed themselves to specific disciplines (prayer, Bible reading, fasting, worship, acts of mercy and service to others), but also they gathered together in groups, shared these commitments with one another and met weekly to pray for each other and hold each other accountable for their growth in grace and specific commitments to spiritual disciplines.

People who seek to exercise regularly are much more successful if they have a partner who's going to be waiting for them at the gym or the health club at the agreed-upon time. We are much more likely to keep our daily quiet time for prayer and study or to do a particular act of service if we know our Christian friends are going to ask us about it at our next meeting.

I hope you will be successful in any life changes you seek to make as you begin the new year. And I would encourage you to focus on changes that are deep and signficant, rather that those that are merely cosmetic and superficial.