Every year around the world, most of us participate in the same New Year’s ritual of making a resolution to change; a promise to ourselves to do something new or different. Whether we’re pledging to improve our finances, our relationships, our appearance or our employment, what we all share is the common desire to make this year better than the last.

Despite the excitement and expectation of the New Year, 35 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions will break them by the end of January. Only 23 percent of people who make a resolution will see it through to completion. So the question becomes, how can you ensure that you are not part of the 77 percent who make the resolutions only to find you have given up before every really getting started?

You can make this the year you actually succeed by deciding that enough is enough! The key to a New Year is a New You, because without a new you, there can be no new year. Who we are up to this point has produced the life we are experiencing now. If you expect to experience a new year – you must become a new person.

We cannot remain the same person with the same thoughts and habits – all the while expecting a new life. Life is about evolving and becoming more of who we are intended to become. We must break the habit of remaining the same if we want to experience something new.

You may have heard that insanity is doing the exact same things over and over and expecting different results. I would add, insanity is also being the exact same person year after year and expecting for your year to be different. You carry you everywhere you go!

 

I love this quote by Lao Tzu:

 

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

 

You see, change – real change — starts with your thoughts. Scripture reminds us in Proverbs 23: 7 (KJV) – “For as he thinketh in his heart so is he.” Change your thinking, change your life! Most people attempt to change their life by changing their actions or behaviors without changing the thoughts that produced the action in the first place. Change has to be approached from the inside-out.

There can be no new you until and unless you embrace a new way of thinking.

To change your thinking for the better, read Philippians 4:8 every day for the next 30 days. Additional reading material to support your desire to think differently is available at our bookstore, Illuminations. Contact the store at 305-624-4991.

Remember to write and share your experiences with me at Charles@utruth.org. Happy New You, Happy New Year!!

 

Rev. Charles M. Taylor, is the senior minister at the Universal Truth Center, a New Thought church for thinkers; 21310 NW 37th Ave., Miami Gardens. Contact him at utruth.org.