Why We Fail, pt. 1

Well, here we are a week into a new year again. We naturally tend to spend a lot of time reevaluating in these days right around New Year's. We consider the successes and failures of the past year; we determine to do this or that, or more of that or this; we set goals and resolutions. And two weeks later, we're in the same ruts and bad habits we were in two months ago. What happened?
A few things can cause us to fail in our determination to do better, and I'll try to hit on a few of these pitfalls--and map out some ways around them--in the next few days.
The first thing that can prevent our success in the new year and in life is doing things for the wrong reasons. Ask yourself why you set those goals and mae those resolutions. Far too often our ambitions are determined by what other think (or what we believe they think) of us. I'm not going to tell you not to care what others think, because, as ambassadors of Heaven, we SHOULD care. But if that's what you're baseing your goals on, you'll fail almost every time. If this is your problem, try changing the way you're thinking about your goals. Isn't that just playing semantics? You bet it is. And you can bet semantic differences can make a huge difference. Reword your purposes. Want to lose some weight so people will look at you differently or find you more attractive? No--you want to slim down so you feel better about what you see in the mirror and to improve your long-term health. Make sure you're reasons center around yourself and God. Those are the two people you're stuck with!