Need help sticking to your resolutions? We have five tips to help you this year.
Discipline Rooted in Delight
How many resolutions have you made over the years? How many resolutions have you kept over the years? What’s been the difference between a “sticky” resolution and another failure?
Let’s start with my definition of resolution.
I like to define “resolution” as an adamant resolve to do a new thing.
We’ve all probably had the experience of writing resolutions based on our insecurities, discontentment, or simply unrealistic expectations. These resolutions often fail soon after we begin. Or, we achieve the goal, but we’re left feeling dry and empty. But that’s not the kind of resolution I’m talking about.
I am talking about the good, healthy, wholehearted resolutions that are dependent upon the love and grace of God.
After all, God is the God of new (2 Cor. 5:17, Isaiah 42:9, Isaiah 43:19, Jeremiah 31:12, Rev. 21:1). But everything new is rooted in God’s purpose and design for His good creation.
[Listen to Revelation Wellness podcast episode #641 to learn How to Make New Year’s Resolutions That Stick]
Now, even these good, healthy, wholehearted resolutions can be challenging to stick to. After all, life gets busy, and the novelty of your new goal wears off quickly. What we need is discipline rooted in delight. But even before that, we need to define our resolutions using these five things that a sticky habit needs.
Resolution (n): an adament resolve to do a new thing.
5 Things a Sticky Habit Needs
1. Don't Be Unrealistic
As you make goals, you have to be realistic. As a follower of Christ, you live from the reality of the Kingdom of God. This means your mind and your goals are set on things above (Col 3:2).
Does God want you to have thinner thighs? Does God want you to have a smaller waistline? Is that what He wants most?
God is focused on things that can’t be seen. Here are two principles to keep you focused on the unseen:
All Things According to God’s Design
If you are making health, fitness, or wellness goals, take some time to evaluate your idea of the purpose of your body and health. If your ideas reflect more of the world’s ideals than God’s, you may have to redefine the purpose of body, health, and fitness according to God’s design and purpose for us.
[ Listen to Revelation Wellness Podcast episode #644 “Can I Love My Body & Still Want Change?” to learn more. ]
Remember Small is Big
In both the parables that Jesus tells and the nature of His ministry, we learn that the Kingdom of God operates differently than the world. In the world, we are often told that bigger is better and more is better. So, we make big goals that can’t be met, making us lose heart.
However, in the Kingdom, small is big. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, yeast, and a band of 12 disciples. These small, seemingly insignificant things lead to big, world-shifting changes.
The same principle can be applied to your goal setting. Rather than setting massive goals, set small ones. If your doctor says you need to lose 25 pounds to help your heart, then set a goal to lose ½ pound per week. It may not seem like a lot, but these Atomic Habits add up!
2. Write Your Goals on Paper
It may seem simple, but writing your goals has real impact on achieving them. According to a research done by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University of California, you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Writing down your goals provides many benefits including: remembering your goals, tracking your progress over time, and a means for reflecting on your goals.
There are all kinds of journals and goal planners out there, but two of our favorites are in the Revelation Wellness Shop. If you have goals related to food, check out the Not Your Average Food Journal. In this journal, there is space to record a weekly meal plan, what you eat each meal, your hunger scale, movement, quiet time, and other aspects of your day that impact your eating.
Our other favorite journal is the Move In Love Wellness Journal. Each day you can record a Scripture verse, three things you’re grateful for, three items on your to-do list, what you need for your heart, mind, soul, and body, and more. Like the food journal, this journal helps you be more aware of the activity of your day and how it contributes to or takes away from achieving your goals.
3. Be Strategic
What’s the difference between a goal you can easily ignore and a goal that you stick to? Specificity.
As you write your goals, be specific. How, where, and when will you do this new habit or goal?
A helpful goal-setting tool is SMART. Your goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, one of your goals is to eat more vegetables. A SMART goal would be to eat three servings of vegetables a day for the next two months. This specific goal is easy to follow and track throughout the year.
Habits can take between 21-220 days to set. So be patient and be specific! Sticking to your goal will be HARD! Embrace the suck. Have resolve.
4. Include Community and Accountability
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, says the most effective thing to stick to your habits is to be in a community where your desired behavoir is the normal behavior. If you desire to live an integrated, healthy, and whole life in Christ, then Revelation Wellness is your community!
We have so many opportunities for you to connect to wholehearted men and women – from our in-person events, Instructor Training, Facebook Community Group, local Revelation Wellness Instructors, and MORE!
5. Resolve to Stay the Course
To achieve any goal, we need to remember that we depend on God every moment. This doesn’t mean following through on goals will suddenly become easy, but it does mean that we have an endless supply of grace, refreshment, and encouragement to keep going.
Instead of giving up when working on a goal gets challenging or boring, we can ask for manna from God to push through to the other side, and into the freedom He’s won for us.
We are people of tiny, kind, and compassionate goals who embrace suffering and expect a resurrection.
When you’re ready for change, be kind to yourself. Be kind and be resolved. Be content with what is, but contend for what God says you can have.
We are a people of tiny, kind, and compassionate goals who embrace suffering and expect a resurrection.
Watch the Full Teaching
Alisa Keeton, Founder of Revelation Wellness.
Author, speaker, and freedom bringer Alisa’s life’s purpose is to make healthy disciples who make healthy disciples. She believes in the power of the Body Of Christ and its many unique parts making up one complete whole. Like any body, it grows best under tension. We are living in the best of times for tension. Let’s train!
