My Case For New Years Resolutions

I sure do love this time of year, don’t you?

We’ve celebrated some great holidays where we’ve commemorated some amazing miracles, and now we get to count down to the beginning of a new year. So exciting!

Being that we are only days away from 2020, I would be remiss not to say something about “New Years Resolutions.” Studies show that health related goals often top peoples list, and this year should be no different.

Many people discount the power of making a new years resolution, but the act of making a “resolution” (a.k.a. a GOAL) can change your life.

Psychologists have seen time and again that the act of identifying a desired destination and maintaining focus on that destination, helps to harness the mental and physical abilities needed to take you there. In other words, goals help direct your mind and body to take you where you ultimately want your life to go.

I know this to be true because by the grace of God, I’ve seen the act of setting goals and working towards them daily transform every area of my life.

I saw in my teens how setting health and fitness goals during chemotherapy transformed my confidence, my attitude and my habits. Over time the pursuit of these goals also led me to lose over 80 pounds of body fat, gain over 40 pounds of muscle, beat the cancer, and go from being unable to walk a few blocks to being able to physically do nearly anything I wanted.

I saw how setting educational goals allowed me to master extremely difficult skills, attain highly respected certifications, and become an effective and sought after problem solver.

I saw how setting professional goals allowed me to have the opportunity to work one on one with nearly 700 people and become a voice for a new approach to solving orthopedic problems.

I saw how setting these goals even allowed me to reach countless thousands more through books, TV and radio interviews, seminars, newspaper and magazine articles and viral videos.

I even saw in my mid 30’s how setting a goal to improve at my childhood love- basketball, took me from being embarrassingly bad to nearly being the leading scorer on a team that won a tournament championship.

Time after time I’ve seen how setting and working towards goals has led to the unlocking of my potential. Because of that I can say- goals work, they are worth making, and they are worth working towards daily.

I’m sure you’d agree that one of the most satisfying pleasures of life is making progressive movement toward a desired end. Not only is the end result fun, but the process helps give more of a sense of purpose and meaning to our lives. Continually working towards our goals also gives us a greater sense of control over our future, which brings tremendous peace of mind.

Also, when our goals are exciting to US, they can make us truly look forward to each successive day. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to bed tonight and be excited for tomorrow? Goals can help make that possible.

Keep in mind too that goals should be exciting and not burdensome. Don’t let your goals be born out of an “I’m fed up with myself and I have to change” type of attitude. They should instead be born out of the understanding that there is untapped potential inside of you that can and should be unlocked. Our job is to go on the journey (or dare I say, adventure!) to see it unlocked.

So what journey do you want to go on in 2020? What goal would you like to reach? What potential would you like to unlock?

Don’t sell yourself short. You were created by God, in His image and for a unique purpose. He loves you, your life matters, and you are here (and still here) for a reason. I pray all the best for you going into this new year, and I pray that by His grace and your effort, you would see your potential unlocked this year like you never thought possible.

Your friend and fan,

Chris