Why You’ll Break Your New Year’s Resolutions in a Week (And How to Change That)

Christmas season is officially over and it passed just as quickly as it came. You’ve probably been regularly eating a thousand calories more than your tracker permits. But who could blame you? Turkey dripping with cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts with mapled pecans, Christmas pudding, Rum cake, Roast chicken and of course…biryani. Who doesn’t love the classic biryani, even during festive seasons. It’s cold outside, 2024 has been a long year- it’s time for a little reward. 

You think back to 2024 and think of the things you planned to do. Did you plan to lose weight? Put on muscle? Read 52 books in a year? Learn another language? Stop that bad habit? How many of those worked out? Many people are going to say ‘none’. For the exceptions, well done, your discipline bore you great fruit. 

The truth is we’ve all had years where we’ve spectacularly failed our New Year’s Resolutions. The morale is high going into the 1st of January. Yet, by the 16th, we feel our old bones bidding us to return to our old rhythms. Why get up at five am? Why deny yourself that cake? Cancel that membership. Stop eating that kale salad. It’s hard. Life is difficult and now we have to deny those simple creature comforts as well? It’s time to kill that DuoLingo streak, when am I ever going to use conversational Esperanto? 

The truth is, the human psyche can’t help but feel a surge of hope when the dates switch over. It’s that fresh feeling of buying a new notebook. This time my handwriting is going to be impeccable. I’m not going to doodle in the corner. I’m going to use the calendar at the front of the book. Nope. I’ve forgotten.

 The truth is change is dependent on the development of our character not the arbitrary changing of a date. If we’ve not practised much discipline through 2024, why do we expect our character to bear the brunt of everything we’re about to impose on it in the first week of January? Moreso, sometimes willpower is just not enough. We’ve been told since a young age that you can do anything you want. This is probably not true. Many people live with the weight of failed dreams and hopes daily? Why didn’t it work out?

Can I suggest it’s because we’ve often been trying to do it on our own? I’ve been investigating the account of Mary and Martha for an upcoming preach. Martha worked her hardest to serve Jesus, but Mary sat at his feet. Yet, it was Mary who sacrificed a year’s wages on perfume to wash at his feet. It was Mary who was told that this moment of service would be proclaimed across the globe. What was the difference? Martha focused on what she could do, Mary focused on what Jesus had done, what Jesus was going to do, and what Jesus was doing. 

How many of us are operating without the grace that God wants to give us? How many of us are focused so hard on doing, we’ve forgotten to be. Yet, it is in the being we get our energy, our manna to do. We cannot do anything apart from Him. If we abide in Him, he promises that we will bear much fruit. So, if our boughs look bereft of fruit, we must ask- have we been abiding? Have we been enjoying his sweet presence? The following song outlines my hopes for this coming year. This is where I want to spend my energy. We must: 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

God will enable us to carry out his will, he has good works prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). He wants us to live a life of abundance (that might not look like abundance in the worldly sense!) Let us then, with this upcoming year, become a people of presence before a people of works. Our resolutions must bow to our primary goal- being in His presence! 

This New Year, let’s make our first priority being before doing. 

How does that practically work? How can we just 'be' instead of ‘doing’ all the time?

1. Ensure you're studying and meditating on the word, not just reading it. This means spending time being quiet in Gods presence and giving Him the space to minister and speak to you. 

2. Find an accountability partner who can help remind you to be still with God and not be on-the-go all the time 

3. Forgive yourself for setbacks 

4. Challenge yourself to spend as much time with the word/prayer/worship as you do on social media or OTT platforms.

5. Celebrate small wins

The works, the fruit, the habits, the schedules, the abundance can’t help but flow when the branches are connected to the Vine. Let’s turn our eyes upon Him.