Is it time to push your RESET button?

One out of three people ditch their New Year’s Resolutions by the end of January. Don’t be one of them! Never give up on your resolutions or goals. If you have a set back, just press your own RESET button and keep trying.

Why you should never give up

“But, I’m too tired and too busy to think about my resolution right now, I’ll start again next year,” you say.  I say, start again right now. If you wait until next year, as of today, the habits that you are trying to change will have another 329 days to become more deeply ingrained.  This will only make it harder for you to make positive changes that will improve your life.

Resolutions are important life changing goals that deserve daily focus and attention.

They should not be something that you are willing to give up on or postpone for another year. To help prove my point, I will share one of my wife’s resolutions and one of my own.

Like many women her age, my wife wants to lose weight. I love her and think she is beautiful inside and out. But, she says that being overweight makes her feel dumpy, unattractive and unlovable. In order to lose weight and feel better about herself, my wife has resolved to eat a healthy diet and to exercise at least half an hour a day. Thank God that she’s a smart woman. She knows that if she cheats on her diet or skips a workout, it won’t keep her from reaching her goals permanently, but an all or nothing thinking will. If she messes up, she pushes her RESET button and starts over. How do you think she would feel if she gave up on her resolutions?

One of my goals is to avoid provoking my children to anger, while bringing them up in the discipline and instruction that will help them to live good lives (Ephesians 6:4). So I consciously avoid creating adversarial relationships with my teenagers. I listen to them, let them know that I care about everything in their lives and that I want the best for them. Kids don’t come with instruction manuals and I’m not perfect,  so sometimes things get ugly, but I don’t use this as an excuse to behave in a way that would ruin my relationship with them or to stop trying to be a good dad. I push the RESET button and keep moving forward.

Obviously, I don’t have all of the answers. I’m just doing the best that I can with what I have and what I know, but by the grace of God, at least I’m smart enough to push the RESET button and to never give up on what is important  to me.