The Only New Year’s Resolution You Need (With Free Printable!)
New Year’s resolutions–we make them and break them, feeling the pressure of all the goals we may or may not ever achieve. I’m terrible at New Year’s resolutions. Most of mine are the same each year–get good grades, write a book, and get closer to God. These are all good goals, but it never seems to be enough (and that book is always a work in progress).
I remember last year I made a resolution to start running. I have no clue as to why. All I know is that two minutes into jogging around the basement and I was dizzy and exhausted (POTS problems). I decided that yoga was my happy place.
What’s the point of me telling you about my New Year’s resolutions? Because lovely reader, I’m asking you to join me in ditching traditional resolutions altogether. Having goals and plans isn’t a bad thing, but they seem kind of unrealistic in the grand scheme of a whole new year.
So what do we do instead? Eat cookies and celebrate! Just kidding (but not really). Here’s what we should be doing this New Year: We need to trade our resolutions for reflection.
We need to trade our resolutions for reflection.
We don’t know what this year will bring, but we already know what we have experienced last year…or do we? Perhaps life hit us head on like a truck, and we may not even recognize who we’ve become or where we’ve ended up. This is why reflecting over the past year is so important. You don’t have to dwell on the past for days, but consider devoting an hour to reflect on the changes and experiences of this year.
Not sure where to begin your reflections? Here’s a free checklist you can download or print to help you ponder (and even journal about) your year.
New Year’s Reflection Checklist (With Free Printable!)
- How was I feeling or what were my thoughts last New Year’s?
- What were some great joys/successes over this past year?
- What were some painful times/hardships over this past year?
- How have I grown from these hardships? Have I become a more positive or negative person?
- Over the last year, have I grown closer to God, or has my faith lost priority?
(Click Here to Download Your Printable!)
This may seem like a daunting checklist, but don’t feel pressured to come up with a certain number of ideas for each bullet point. Start off slow and be prayerful about it–reviewing a whole year takes time.
Now that you’ve reflected on this last year, it’s time to set the only New Year’s resolution you need this year–in the form of a question.
How does God want me to grow this year, and how can I deepen my walk with Him?
This is where you should really start praying and perhaps fasting. When you devote your year–and your life–to Jesus, it doesn’t matter what you accomplish or fail at, where you go, or what goals you manage to check off. When you give Jesus your future, He will help you live the most incredible life you could ever dream of.
I hardly doubt the twelve disciples had a clue about all of the incredible events that would happen upon following Jesus. They probably couldn’t even imagine half of the miracles they would witness with God.
The same is still true for us. When we give God control, He shows up in miraculous ways. This year, lovely reader, let Jesus be your guiding light into the future.
Let Jesus be your resolution.
A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9 NKJV).
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment and share 🙂
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16 Comments
Courtney
This is really cool and awesome advice! I love the quote at the end about letting Jesus be our resolution! And aren’t those books always a work in progress? #AuthorProblems.😜
fearfullywonderfullyme
Haha yes they are! Trying to work on the old writing for sure. I’m glad you like it!
beckielindsey
Emily, I love the printable. I’ll be writing on a similar topic. You know what they say, “Great minds think alike.”
Blessings to you in 2017.
Beckie
fearfullywonderfullyme
Thanks Beckie! It was my first time ever making one like that, and I loved it! I can’t wait to read your post. God bless you too!
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Scientific Christian
I understand you mean good by this post but I disagree strongly. New Years Resolutions are the biggest time of the year when people start making commitments to religion than any other part of the year, like reading your Bible. I think this is a good thing, and ditching these traditional values is damaging and almost sounds like embracing the greater secularization of society and over all ditching of traditional values. Just my two cents.
fearfullywonderfullyme
Thank you so much for your comment! I can see your point, and perhaps I should have clarified more–I believe in goals and making commitments (especially to God). What I was trying to convey is that since we don’t know the future, we need to leave it in God’s hands instead of just making a bunch of resolutions like most of society does. We can use the past year to reflect and see how we are doing in our walk with God, and then use this to help pray for the future. God bless you.
Natalie @ Milk & Honey Faith
This year has been one of the hardest years for me. There have been so many attacks that I feel a little battered and bruised. However, God has used this year to grow my relationship with Him. I depend on Him more than ever. I look forward to a better year and can only thank the Lord above for giving me to tools to overcome this past year.
fearfullywonderfullyme
Amen! Thank you for sharing Natalie. I have had lots of hardships this year (and blessings) that have brought more growth and faith also. God is faithful and will bless your 2017!
fearfullywonderfullyme
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Kathy
I so love this. I never liked resolutions! Your reflection suggestions are so rich..even though uts been a tough year in many ways I’ve surrendered to listenibg for God’s will..waiting (still) in a sort of desert for direction. I turn to Christ for my unfolding path in 2017. Really love reflecting. Thank you.
fearfullywonderfullyme
Thanks for commenting Kathy! I’m glad this post could resonate with you. It can be tough to wait on God, but that is definitely when the incredible things happen! God bless you.
wmunsell11
You’ve written the post about goal setting (or not) that I would like to write! I’ve been at a place with Jesus where I’m leaning in to all that He has for me and learning to be okay with the often messy process. Your thoughts about reflecting on what God has done as well as prayerfully seeking what He has for you in the coming year works for me too!
fearfullywonderfullyme
I’m so glad you liked it! I love how when we walk with Jesus, He guides us through even the messy parts of our lives to give us purpose. Thanks for commenting!
Becky (So Very Blessed)
I LOVE this post! There is so much need for reflection and even more need for Jesus when we’re thinking of what to focus on in the upcoming year! This is such a beautiful post. You keep taking care of the yoga (I love it, but I stink at it!) and I’ll keep taking care of the running. 😉
fearfullywonderfullyme
Thanks Becky! I really appreciate your comment. Is agree that Jesus should always be our main focus. Have a great New Year! ❤