‘Tis the season to make New Year’s Resolutions. The beginning of a year is a wonderful time to review, reflect, and refine; a time to look forward to a brighter, more abundant future. Unfortunately, many people are going to fail at their grand resolutions long before they turn their calendar to February. Why is that? I don’t doubt that many who create goals have a genuine desire to make the said changes. So what is that keeps us from really moving forward in our lives and losing that 10 lbs, improving that relationship, or sticking to that budget? Sydney Harris put it this way, “Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we want is for things to remain the same but get better.” Well put Sydney. Reality is that if we want positive change, that means WE’RE going to have to change. That’s not rocket science, but it’s clearly a principle that many folks can’t or don’t want to process. Change means taking responsibility for ourselves and in this day and age that “R” word is as good as cussin’.

Change is hard! Change means doing things differently than we’ve ever done them before – and that might mean trying to climb out of the  muddy habit hole  that we’ve been sittin’ in for years.  Change means throwing off your groove for while, getting out of that comfort zone and even wading through some thick stress and fear. While we’d like to lose that 10 lbs, improve that relationship, and maintain that budget – it is often the fear of the work and sweat that accompanies change that holds us back. And yet, as James Allen put it, “Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.”  Unless we are willing to put forth the steady effort that positive change requires, we remain bound and that looks like something different for all of us. We might be  bound by our addiction to alcohol or pornography, bound by our dishonesty, bound by our laziness, bound by our negative mental attitude. Each of these points diminish our opportunities, relationships, success, and ultimately the joy factor in our lives.

While change may be difficult, it is truly the key to goal achievement and a happy, successful life. We only have one life to live. Don’t be afraid of change. Embrace it and go to work on your life!