Another new decade! The years do seem to gallop by! Each year we resolve to make it better than the last. We plan to lose weight, get out of debt, exercise more, spend more time with the family, etc ad nauseum. Statistics tell us that 30% are broken in the first week! We tend to expect to fail after a while, and guess what- we do! The same can also be said of our goals for the year- personal, health, business. Andy Stanley suggests in his New Years message online that we should first decide what we want to be, then what we should do. From Stephen Covey he was stressing to Begin with the End in Mind. Covey’s definition of success can be summed up in how close you come in reality to what you hope your parents, spouse, kids, and boss would say about you at your funeral! Things like integrity, generosity, faithfulness- that stuff.
Over a decade ago in Winnipeg I was sharing with Dr. Robert Schuller, the author and pastor, with whom I shared the platform on a few occasions, how helpful his sayings had been to me. With glee he said, “I have a new one!” “Tell me.” “We have to say that we are what we wish we were if we ever hope to be.” Instead of RESOLUTIONS which we expect to break, make daily AFFIRMATIONS about the person we want to become to shape the self-image in the subconscious that will effect the outcomes. To be correct, they should conform to the 5 “P”s- Present tense, Positive result, Personal, Picturesque and Powerful. Instead of “I am going to quit smoking,” say “I now enjoy the smell of fresh air and the taste of foods.” For “I am going to lose weight,” craft something to say like “I feel great in my new clothes at ____ lbs.” Say these daily with feeling and in several weeks the change should start. My own affirmations begin with, “I daily enjoy affirming the dynamic and thriving person I am.”