Why I don't make New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year where everyone makes new year's resolutions. Diets will be started, gym memberships will be purchased, et cetera.

I won't be among them. I do not make new year's resolutions.

It's not that I don't want to change, or be better. On the contrary, it's that I don't want to wait until a new year begins in order to change.

When I notice something I don't like about myself, or that I am unhappy with some situation, or that I have developed a bad habit, I try to figure out how to change it right away.

Every time I read the Bible, I try to reflect on what it means to me. Often, this requires me to make a change, too:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." (James 1: 22-25)

Everyone jokes about how new year's resolutions tend to fail. It is common knowledge that the gym will be busier in January than in March.

I think there's two big reasons they tend to fail:

1. People try to change a lot, overnight. Instead, it's much easier to make smaller, incremental changes, a little at a time. But you won't make much progress if you only do that once a year. 
2. People feel like they should make changes, but they don't actually believe in them. The new year is a time of reflection, and a time when it seems like everyone is making changes for the better. Making a resolution seems like the thing to do. But changing your habits is hard, and if your motivation doesn't come from somewhere deep within, it won't last long. 

Now, if the new year triggers in you a time of contemplation which leads you to realize that there is a change you need to make, and you are motivated to make that change, by all means---go ahead, make a plan, and change it. 

But don't change because it's a new year. Change because it's a new you. 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." (Philippians 2: 12-13)