I have to admit that I love starting a new year. A fresh start! But then I get overwhelmed when I start to think of all the areas in my life I want to improve and all the resolutions I need to make.

In fact, I didn’t even start this blog the first week of the New Year because I still had family here (yeah!) and was still putting away Christmas (ugh).

Statistics say that most resolutions don’t last. So I wonder….is there a way to help motivate us so that we can improve our life for this New Year?

Action Plan

1. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Pick one area that you would like to improve. Mine is to move my body more with walking, weights and yoga.

2. Take some time to map out the year: schedule your vacation(s); doctor appointments; visiting family/friends. Having something to look forward to is a great motivator.

3. Read books or blogs that can inspire you. Scott and I just downloaded:
The Daniel Plan – Jumpstart Guide from the bestselling book by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman. (The Daniel Plan Jumpstart Guide)
It focuses on the Five Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends. Each of us is in a different place with our health, but these essentials will hold up your life, enliven your body, enrich your mind, and fill your heart.

4. Eradicate clutter from your life: from your mind, your home (i.e. closets, pantries, drawers, basements, attics, and garages), and your soul (i.e. only look at what can inspire and build you up. Keep away from filthy books, TV, etc.) Reducing clutter can motivate you to continue.

5. Be in prayer daily. Only through God can we accomplish anything and He is the One who can give us internal renovations. Be thankful for everything! Gratitude is the key for our emotional health. And changing our attitude from complaining to being thankful will motivate you in the areas you want to work on.

6. And just like the popular song says, “Let it go” anything that is tangling you up and keeping you from the life God has planned for you. It could be a job you need to leave, a relationship, sin you need to drop from your life, where you live or even your attitude.

Spiritual & Emotional Check-Up

We all know to improve our physical selves: eat healthy, exercise and keep the extra pounds off. But in this New Year we also need to remember that along with our physical selves are our spiritual and emotional sides.

Spiritual should be forefront in our lives daily: praying (when you rise, as you go about your day and when you retire), reading God’s Word, fellowship with other believers and seeking God with thanksgiving and praise — being grateful! This one discipline can literally change your life because gratitude is so powerful: you will feel happier, you’ll boost your energy levels, you’ll get healthier and more resilient, relationships will work better and you will be a nicer more loving person.

But also, don’t forget your emotional self, your soul. This is the part of you that is you. The Bible is not perfectly clear as to the nature of the human soul. But from studying the way the word soul is used in Scripture, we can come to some conclusions. Simply, the human soul is the part of a person that is not physical. It is the part of every human being that lasts eternally after the body dies. Genesis 35:18 describes the death of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, saying she named her son “as her soul was departing.” From this we know that the soul is different from the body and that it continues to live after death.

So concentrate each day on building up your soul by practicing everything that is in line with what the Lord calls on us to do: to love others, to forgive, to seek peace, to not sin. Hard? Yes! And that’s why the only way we can live holy lives unto the Lord is by committing ourselves to Him and allowing His Holy Spirit to take over our lives.

Manna from Heaven

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:5,7

“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3