Christian New Year Resolution

There are many of us who over the years have ambitiously embarked on a courageous New Year resolution to accomplish. I'm sure by now many of us would have thought about or even have decided on a resolution to achieve something in 2007. This article is meant to give an insight into Christian New Year resolutions we could reflect on and adopt. First some fundamental overview of resolutions

Anatomy of Failure

It also shouldn't come as surprise to us that the majority of us would have abandoned and even seen failure with resolutions by the end of January. In fact research indicates that 80% of us would have broken our resolves by January 31! Sadly only 5% of us would have continued in our quest to see through the resolution by year end. At the end of day when we prepare our New Year resolution, we are half-hearted about it.

Let's first diagnose the reason for failure of such resolutions before we attempt to create one for 2007. The major cause of failed resolutions is our expectation of success or level of confidence of achieving our objective. Simply put, if you expect to fail, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy and if you have the confidence to succeed, you will achieve your goal 100% or close to it. So let's keep this in mind trying to formulate our New Year resolution. The other reason is that we have more than one resolution for the year. Let's face it it's easier to just focus on one resolution for the year.

Resolution Selection Principles

Let's now get down to the steps to undertake to set-up resolutions we can fulfill. These are based on the SMART principle and they are an acronym for:

1. Specific - being specific makes it easier for implementation, monitoring and the other elements below. If you're not specific we are unable to define if we are successful or otherwise.

2. Measurable - it should be quantifiable otherwise it cannot be measured. Hence qualitative goals are bound to fail simply because you have no way of determining progress.

3. Achievable - it has to be a task that we are confident of achieving. The only way of ascertain achievability is to conduct an analysis of our strengths and weaknesses to establish if we are capable of undertaking a specific goal.

4. Realistic - although goals are meant to be challenging, it should also not be unrealistic. This is related to the element of achievability and can be discovered by the strength and weaknesses analysis above.

5. Time-specific - we have to fix a time frame for achieving the goal we set. Typically for New Year resolutions this can be at the end of the year. Naturally there are some resolutions that could have a shorter period.

Christian New Year Resolutions

My proposal is to contemplate the Beatitudes that Jesus Christ extolled as our basis for New Year resolutions. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1716) states that the Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching and they reveal the goal of human existence and respond to the natural desire for happiness. Thus it makes perfect sense if we resolve to achieve Beatitude-based goals. After we undertake New Year resolutions to achieve that bring us happiness. Here then are the Beatitudes and some corresponding resolutions below each.

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (This means humbly accepting our need for God's help).

o To read the Daily Readings

o To say morning and night prayers

o To pray the Rosary (daily, once a week, bi-weekly, etc)

o To go for daily Mass or Sabbath Mass every week.

• Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (This means abstinence and endurance).

o To abstain from buying luxury goods, or to spend money frivolously

o To endure with, provide comfort to and pray for a loved one undergoing suffering

• Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (This means humbly and meekly bending before God and man).

o To cease arrogant or condescending attitude

o To discontinue falsely modest behavior

• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (This includes a strong and continuous desire to progress in religious and moral perfection).

o To stop usage of artificial contraception and practice natural methods

o To join Pro-life Action League, Feminists for Life, American Life League, etc

• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

o To visit the sick or prisoners weekly or monthly

o To spend time with the elderly in nursing homes weekly or monthly

o To volunteer your time and effort at soup kitchens daily, weekly, monthly

• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Seeing God in all that we do and also doing things without the anticipation of reward). o To undertake all activities with good intention and not for self-gain

• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

o To restore our dented relationship with family members or friends or neighbors

o To bring about peace among dueling family members, friends or neighbors

• Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

o To practice, display and discuss my faith openly in public schools and institutions although they will attempt to silence me.

Ensuring Success

Now that we selected one SMART resolution, we will need to employ these tactics to ensure we will not falter.

1. Write it down in your journal or planner.

2. Prepare action plans that you need to perform daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, etc. Needless to mention - write this down too.

3. Monitor on a monthly interval to analyze progress and take corrective measures - don't monitor weekly as over monitoring can cause exasperation and demotivate you. Record these results too.

4. Inform family members - as they will act as your support especially when you feel overwhelmed.

5. Inform and discuss with your parish priest - he will assist you as your spiritual director to help you persevere.

Happy New Year and God Bless you and I hope you achieve whatever you set out to do.