QUITER! No one likes to think of themselves as a quitter, but did you know that yesterday, January 12, is known as ‘Quitter’s Day?’ As you may be guessing, or perhaps you have been a victim of Quitter’s Day, it is the day that most people break their New Year’s Resolutions. Shocking right? If you are reading this and you have already quit, don’t worry, you are in a no-judgement zone here!

I’m here to encourage you in all your goals and resolutions, broken and unbroken. If you have not set any resolutions at all, keep reading because you may end up making a delayed resolution now. 

I have never really been a big New Year’s Resolution gal, but I am definitely a goal girlie. From little to big, I’m always working towards, setting, and tweaking my goals. As the calendar brought us into a new year, I realized that my main goal (or ‘resolution’ if you want to label it) is to grow closer to God.

Regardless of your resolution or goals, here are three reasons we don’t keep those resolutions so you are aware and can avoid being a victim of ‘Quitter’s Day’:

1. Goals are too vague or unrealistic. “Get healthy” or even “grow closer to God” are too vague. We would need to define these more, not restrict, but define them to ourselves. My ‘grow closer to God’ may be tweaked to say ‘I want to grow closer to God by experiencing Him in different ways throughout the year’ or ‘My goal is to read something from the bible every day, whether it is full scripture or just a verse.’
2. No plan will crush your motivation. Instead of trying to ‘ride that high’ of January 1st of being pumped to crush your new goal, you need to plan more. Set smaller goals along the way to help with this. For instance, this week, to ‘grow closer to God,’ I’m going to only listen to worship music on my way to work.
3. All-or-Nothing Thinking. Many of us will quit after a ‘bad day’, thinking, ‘Well, I already failed today, so may as well quit.’ Instead of checking things off the list each day and beating yourself up when you can’t check that item off, change your mindset. Let’s say you drove to work and forgot to change the station to worship music, DON’T QUIT!! Just try to remember tomorrow and work towards that goal, don’t run from it.

As you reflect on your New Year’s Resolutions or goals in general I want to leave you with scripture to meditate on as well:

• Proverbs 16:3-’Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.’
• Isaiah 43:18-19-’But forget all that it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.’
• Philippians 4:13-’For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.’
• Matthew 6:33-’Seek the Kingdom of God  above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.’
• Jeremiah 29:11-’For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’
• Hebrews 12:1-’Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.’

To wrap things up, when in doubt, take it to God. Go to God in prayer before and during your resolutions and goals. God wants the best for us all. He loves us and He has good, good plans for you.

See ya in the next post, with

✝️Lots of Faith & Lil’ Bit of Fur 🐾,

Melanie Drews-Paws on God’s Path