We are fast approaching 2020.  Many of us are looking ahead and formulating new goals and direction.  Resolutions will be made.  Later they will be broken.

What causes us to do this year after year? And when so many of us fail to follow through?

• Lack of discipline?
• Incorrect goals?
• This is more than wishful thinking?

Why do we even set goals for ourselves?

• To feel better about ourselves?
• To make others value us more?
• Societal pressure?
• Advertising pressure?

Let’s look at health goals.  Millions of people right now are thinking about their health goals for 2020.  Losing weight.  Eating healthy foods.  Exercise. Reduce medication.  Those are all great and noble goals.

But for millions, these goals will be a fading thought very early in the year.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.

People will lose the desire to do what it takes to meet their goals.  A warm cinnamon roll on a frigid February morning will win the day, and the slippery slope from that fresh baked goodness will loom large.  Within days, health goals can be obliterated.  “Oh, well, next year.”

Look back on your life 1 year ago.  Reflect on this:

• How am I healthier today?
• How have I grown as a person, parent, spouse, leader in the past year?
• How has my spiritual life developed?
• How has my financial wellness improved?

“Well, ummm, I guess I’m really the same as I was back then.  Actually, I’ve been this way for years.”

See, becoming better is not simply a matter of desire.  Who doesn’t want to become healthier?  More in tune spiritually?  A better mom/dad/person?  More secure financially?

We all do.

So what’s missing when we set goals and resolutions yet fail to follow-through so quickly?

What we need is TRANSFORMATION.

Let’s break this definition down:

• Profound – very great or intense.
• Radical – very different from the usual, sometimes to the extreme
• Change – not the same as before
• New direction – turn around and head on a different path
• More effective – results, better results, life-changing results

 

Allow me some liberty here.  When I think of TRANSFORMATION, I think of the word repentance.  When someone repents, there are 2 actions required:

1. Turning away from something.
2. Turning to something/someone.

To truly change your life (health, relationships, development, finances, etc.), this sense of repentance needs to be applied.

Health:  I am turning from foods that harm me.  I am turning to foods that heal.

Relationships:  I am turning from behaviors that harm others.  I am turning to behaviors that build bridges and create peace.

Finances:  I am turning from undisciplined spending.  I am turning to creating a plan to move me towards freedom.

Personal Development:  I am turning from haphazardly moving through life.  I am turning to intentional ways to grow.

Do you see the difference?

Let’s explore how TRANSFORMATION can happen in your life.  Today, it is December 21, 2019.  Think ahead to December 21, 2020.

• How will you feel if you truly TRANSFORMED your life?
• What kind of results would you realize?
• How will your health, spiritual life, relationships, finances, etc. all become better as a result of TRANSFORMATION?
• See yourself having improved these key areas of life. Visualize you being in a “profound, radically” different place.  Do you like what you see?  Doesn’t this excite you?

Fact: you can TRANSFORM your life.  You can!  In the posts to come, let’s learn and discover how TRANSFORMATION can become possible in our lives.  I need it!  I bet you do, too.

In the posts that follow, let’s learn together how we can TRANSFORM our lives.  We’ll explore the TRANSFORMATION definition, creating habits, the power of documenting your progress in a journal, accountability, the idea that TRANSFORMATION is not a one-and-done proposition…and so much more.  I’ll great resources that I’ve read/listened to  from great people.

Do you want to remain the same person you’ve been for years (decades)?  I don’t.  True change requires TRANSFORMATION.

Join me in the journey!  Let’s become better.