Someone made a joke saying, “May your troubles be as long as new years resolutions”. How many New Year’s resolutions have you made in your life? How many have you successfully accomplished? The estimate is that less than 10% of New Year’s resolutions are actually achieved (University of Scranton Psychology Professor John C. Norcross, Ph.D.). According to researcher John Norcross and his colleagues, who published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, approximately 50 percent of the population makes resolutions each New Year. Among the top resolutions are weight loss, exercise, quit smoking, better money management and debt reduction.

New year does not do anything in you, even though it changes your calendar. The change in calendar does not create change in character. New year resolutions inJanuary that are focused more on what you need to do instead of determining who you want to be will fall flat on their face by February. Set a goal TO BE, not just TO DO. If we don’t do that then we end up looking forward to new start on our old habits.

To see lasting change in our life we must focus more on ROUTINES than RESOLUTIONS. Jesus was always interested in creating a lifestyle of faith instead of just leaps of faith. For example, many miracles that happened in the gospels, happened to people who had great moment of faith but the same people were not found in the book of Acts. Then there were disciples who seemed to always struggle with their faith but they shook the world. Disciples were building a LIFESTYLE, while the rest of the people had LEAPS of faith.

Change in lifestyle requires changing our habits and you don’t need to wait till January 1 to do that. Duke University researcher in 2006 found that more than 40 percent of the actions people performed each day weren’t actual decisions, but habits. “All bad habits start slowly and gradually and before you know you have the habit, the habit has you” Zig Ziglar. Changing your habits is painful and slow process. “Habits are like a cable. We weave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken” Horace Mann. Bad habits are like comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.

When creating new habits you must remember the 21/90 rule. It takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to create a lifestyle. Many people quit to soon before they see their new routine turn to habit and then into lifestyle.

It’s important to start small. Start with reading 1 chapter a day. Start with praying 15 minutes a day. Start with doing 10 minute exercise. Start with cutting off the sweets. Start with one day fasting. Small things make big difference. Make sure to add a bit of fun/reward to those decisions. So that you don’t wait till the end of the year to experience the reward. Many new year resolutions fail because they are not specific and not realistic.

Stick with those decisions till the end. Break the spirit of quitting over life. Decisions have to be like the postage stamp, stick to the letter until it arrives at its destination. Stick with those routines until they become a lifestyle. Not only that will change your life but also your character.

What are some routines you are wanting to create in the next year? 

This blog was written by Vladimir Savchuk.

Pastor Vlad is the lead pastor of Hungry Generation Church, an author of “Break Free” and “Single, Ready to Mingle” and a founder of free online school “Vlad’s School.” To download free e-books, sermon series, small group study guides go to vladimirsavchuk.com