It’s that time of year where once again many of us will be talking about our “New Year’s Resolutions.” Heath spas everywhere are bracing for a significant increase in membership and people working out. They expect to be busy from January until about mid-March, when they will go back to normal and most of their recent members will no longer show up.
If we’re honest, most of us don’t have a particularly good record of accomplishing our new year’s resolutions. In fact research indicates that 25% of people making new year’s resolutions quit within a week. 43% expect to fail by the end of February. Only 9% successfully accomplish all their New Year’s resolutions! It’s not that we don’t want to make changes in our lives, but most resolutions are just hopes for improvement in the year ahead. If we want the next year to really be different, if we want to see positive change in our lives, we need a strategy to accomplish it. Change is difficult for most of us, especially long-term changes in our day-to-day activities. Without a clear plan, and acting on that plan, not much changes.
To accomplish meaningful changes in our lives, we must make meaningful changes in our day- to-day habits. Habits are actions that we consistently take. Habits are our routines. Habits are patterns that shape our lives.
What current habits are not serving us well? What new habits will lead to the improvements we desire?
John Maxwell states that “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. Your success is found in your daily routine.”
He’s talking about our habits. Lasting change requires us to change our habits, the things we do repeatedly.
If you are in the habit of eating unhealthy foods, drinking too much, not exercising, you will need to change those habits. Simply giving up fried food or going for walks for a few weeks will not suffice. You need to develop a habit of healthy eating, and regular exercise. You need to change your thinking about the food you eat and how you live.
If it is your practice to spend more on your credit card than you can pay off each month, you will need to change that habit. You simply need to say no to purchases you can’t afford to pay for. You must change your thinking about your priorities and how you spend your money.
If you spend a good amount of time each day staring at your phone, looking at social media, watching videos, you will need to intentionally change that practice. Anytime we want to change a habit, we need to replace it with something. Instead of spending so much time connected, find other, more productive activities. Read, meditate, paint, write, exercise, take on a project, learn a new skill.
Technology has changed and advanced our lives in many ways. Smart phones, the internet, apps, tablets, all make many things easier than ever before. At the same time, technology has a way of taking over our time. A recent study discovered that 52% of adults feel they are spending too much time on their phones. 45% said they were addicted to their mobile devices. 68% felt other people spend too much time on their phones, including an alarming 39% of children who reported that their parents spend too much time on their devices.
If we want to find more time for meaningful activities and self-improvement, one major step we can take is to put down our mobile devices and use the time we’ve freed up to engage in habits and activities that will improve our lives.
Of course, this takes self-discipline. The ability to choose to do what we need to do over what we want to do. How do we become more self-disciplined? We work at changing our thinking about ourselves. When we begin to see ourselves as self-disciplined people, we act like self-disciplined people.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It isn’t easy to change habits and practices that have been well established in our lives. But be intentional. Identify new habits to replace the unproductive ones. Start new routines. And when old habits creep back up, recognize them, and replace them with something else. Remember that the biggest changes start with small, intentional actions.
This year, instead of hoping for changes in the year ahead, improve your habits, patterns, and routines. As Maxell has stated, “Your success if found in your daily routine.”
Wishing you a healthy, prosperous, successful life in 2025!
Happy New Year!
Kent Shafer 