New Year’s resolutions are loaded with obligation. I ought to exercise more this year. I ought to lose weight. I ought to pray more. I ought to spend more time with my family. Health, spiritual life and family life are are all worth our attention.
Yet in my experience, the words “ought” and “should” rarely motivate me to do anything. In fact, they often lead me to resist what I think I should do.
I’ve been working more with “want” in recent months. What do I want to do? It’s far more motivating. Some days I even go so far as to say, “What would be fun to do?” That’s even more energizing.
Perhaps you’ve got your list of resolutions well under way. Terrific. But if you’ve fallen off the wagon, so to speak, already, or if you haven’t made any “resolutions” yet, you might ask yourself one or more of these questions?
What do I want for my health this year?
What do I want for my family life and friendships this year?
What do I want for my relationship with God this year?
What do I want for my ministry this year?
What else do I want this year?
I think keeping these ideas relatively small, achievable and enjoyable helps keeps it lighter.
What do you want in 2013? I’d love to hear.