11 Resolutions Everyone Should Consider Making Next Year
New Year's resolutions you'll actually want to keep.
By Jesse Carey
December 28, 2015
Jesse Carey is an editor at RELEVANT and a mainstay
on the weekly RELEVANT Podcast. He lives in Virginia Beach with his wife
and son.
We’ve
all done it: Made resolutions to work out regularly, to stick to a
budget, to eat better. Those are all great goals. And they can pay off
if we stick to them. But the thing about strict resolutions is that when
we break them, it can feel like we’ve failed, and it becomes easy to
ditch them altogether.
That’s why we’ve created this list of 11 New Year's resolutions that everyone should consider making in 2016. These aren’t just based on do’s and don’ts, but small habits that can make a difference in our lives—even if we don’t do the best job of always sticking with them (see No. 7).
Just
take a look at recent news headlines, ongoing current events and
debates in the Church, and it’s clear to see that we live in polarizing
times. Though being able to take a stand for what you believe is an
admirable trait, so is listening to the other side and putting yourself
in someone else’s shoes. Even if we don’t end up changing our position
on an issue, questioning our own long-held presuppositions doesn’t just
serve to challenge our beliefs—it can actually strengthen them.
That’s why we’ve created this list of 11 New Year's resolutions that everyone should consider making in 2016. These aren’t just based on do’s and don’ts, but small habits that can make a difference in our lives—even if we don’t do the best job of always sticking with them (see No. 7).
To Spend More Time in Conversations that Matter
Too often, days at a time can go by with the conversations we have with our friends, family members and co-workers going no deeper than surface-level chit-chat. Though there’s nothing wrong with joking around, theorizing about the latest episode of Serial or strategizing about fantasy football, if we’re not intentional about regularly engaging in deeper conversations—that challenge us intellectually, spiritually and socially—too often, those types of talks can become increasingly rare.
Complaining
about something can offer momentary relief from frustrations, but
working on solutions to the problems in our world can actually fix the things that are broken.
To Complain Less and Do More
We’re all guilty of it from time to time: We see something broken—in culture, the Church, the government, in our own personal relationships—and our first instinct is to vent about it instead of thinking of ways we can help change it. Complaining about something can offer momentary relief from frustrations, but working on solutions to the problems in our world can actually fix the things that are broken.To Spend Less Time Worrying
Any time spent worrying is time wasted. It’s also counterproductive. As author and activist Corrie ten Boom said in The Hiding Place, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."To Pray More
It’s easy to pray less when we have lots of things to do, but really, life should work in the opposite way. As Martin Luther once said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” No matter how busy we become, committing to spend more time praying—even if it’s during our commute, when we’re working out or throughout our day—is a key to growing spiritually.To Listen to More New Music Every Week
With the rise of platforms like SoundCloud, NoiseTrade, Spotify and Pandora, keeping up with new music releases has never been more involved. But it’s also never been easier to find new artists and get introduced to songs you’ve never heard. Next year, consider making even more margin to check out innovative music and the artists who are shaping culture.To Cut Others Some Slack
In the social media era, where everyone’s opinion gets a platform, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of getting angry at our friends over things they say that we don’t agree with. Unfortunately, many times, that same mindset of taking offense at dumb stuff people say or do creeps into real-world relationships, the Church and workplaces. The thing is, most of the time, outrage is overrated. In 2016, commit to be offended less and reserving your anger for issues that really matter.To Cut Yourself Some Slack
We’ve all been driven to try to accomplish things but ended up falling short. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all failed. The good news is, God doesn’t expect perfection from us, and we shouldn’t expect it from ourselves. Next year, when you mess up, drop the ball or let people you care about down, do what you can to make it right, but be quick to move on and show yourself the same grace you extend to others.
Though being
able to take a stand for what you believe is an admirable trait, so is
listening to the other side and putting yourself in someone else’s
shoes.
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