New Year's resolutions are like a new diet. You're excited about starting, but then it becomes a chain around your ankles keeping you from the feeling of freedom.
I don't make resolutions any more because I discovered that they are nothing more than an expression of our desires without the commitment to follow through.
I wrote a blog post some time back about Active Hope. This hope is more than desire. It is desire mixed with action. I've come to understand that a lot of the difference is in the strength of our faith in the final result. What do you envision in the end?
The same goes for our desires. Author Napoleon Hill called this "definiteness of purpose" (Think and Grow Rich). Dr. Charles Stanley called it discipline when he said, "Discipline, not desire, determines our destiny."
Every desire we have must have a definiteness of purpose if we are to achieve it. It's not enough to simply desire a thing. You can't say, "I want to lose weight" and achieve it without first clarifying the desire (lose 20 lbs), setting a time goal (by March 1st), and having a definiteness of purpose behind it.
There must be more behind our desires. They must be quantifiable, measurable, and so fixed in our minds as achievable that we already see them accomplished. Desires, just like faith and hope, must have feet to bear fruit.
So consider not setting New Year's resolutions. Determine what your desires are and start by making a plan to accomplish them. Then develop the definiteness of purpose needed to see them as already achieved before you actually accomplish it.
