When the resolutions fail… what next?

12th Jan 2024

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Personal Testimonies & Life Lessons, Spiritual Growth & Guidance

The New Year has passed and you started your resolutions off strong. Then the motivation faltered and while you continued for a while one day of not doing turned into two, then three and now it’s been over a week and February is almost here.

You are disappointed in yourself and wish that you’d stuck it out just a little while longer then you might have felt just the slightest bit better. Sometimes you wish you’d never started them at all because at least then you’d only feel a bit of regret and not the crushing disappointment you feel now.

BUT THE JOURNEY IS NOT OVER YET.

So you failed to reach your goal this time but you could achieve it next time or the time after that. It’s time to pick yourself up and try again. What motivated you the first time? Did the motivation change? What will keep you going after the motivation fades this time?

Each failure is just an opportunity to learn and grow, consider each failure a stepping stone creating a better foundation for you to build upon until eventually not only is your goal within reach but you’ve succeeded and it feels so good.

THE JOURNEY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE DESTINATION.

As good as that may sound perhaps you’re still unsure about trying again. It’s not surprising that you’re discouraged and that your spark of hope is little more than a flicker at the moment but we need to change that. We need to reignite that spark of hope within you and we’re going to do that with three simple questions.

What are you looking forward to this year?

What makes you happy?

What are you going to do to make the most of this year?

Got that hope back now? Good. Now let’s go achieve our goals.

Alright, now just before you go dashing off with your new found hope and motivation, let’s talk a little.

Back when you were creating your resolutions did you create a plan with easy to achieve steps that would lead you to achieving your goal? Or did you just decide to do it and hope for the best. Nothing wrong with spontaneity but when it comes to resolutions it’s better to have plan of action.

Personally, I don’t call them resolutions because of the negativity associated with it. I prefer to call my resolutions goals and I create habits in order to achieve these goals. Sometimes I think the negative association with the word resolutions around the New Year can unconsciously effect our actions which why I use goals instead.

I also call on God for help when I’m struggling with my goals. He encourages me when I want to give up and reassures me when I have a setback. He provides clarity when I feel lost and has given me people who support me and keep me accountable. And He can do the same for you.

Us Christians are aware of our weaknesses keenly and we know that we need God to help us with most things. He meets us in our weaknesses and gives us strength. We have the hope that our goals will blessed by Him if they align with scripture and the purpose God has given us.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.”
John 15:5

If our resolutions are selfish or vain we do not expect to receive God’s blessing or help because we know that He wouldn’t condone it. But most of the time our resolutions aren’t like that because we want to please God and have Him be with us in everything we do.

There are five things we do when it comes to resolutions.

We pray for guidance, for wisdom as we consider our resolutions and clarity on how to fulfil them.
We don’t rely on our own strength but trust God to step in when we need His strength to continue.
Have an accountability partner, someone who is maybe working towards the same goals as you so you can do it together and motivate and encourage each other.
Expect failures but take the time to learn from them and find where we went wrong the first time so that we can do better the next time.
We thank God for the fulfilled resolutions and praise Him for His help and guidance.

Now I hope you are still motivated and determined to achieve your goals this year, I hope you are successful and this post has given you some inspiration to help you on your journey to success.