Promised, failed and sacked but you survived; make 2016 count!

I guess by now most of us have read, heard and know what promises have done to someone. He promised, could not deliver and has been fired, disguised as resigning. We made promises, failed to deliver, but we survived. We might not be lucky in 2017.

All glory to God. He has been good; He led us into 2016 safely. Before dawn today most of us went to church thank God for bringing us to the end of 2015 and to pray over our New Year resolutions and make all sorts of promises to ourselves and God.

The clocks ticked and before we knew it, 2015 was gone; 2016 is here but what next? Is it just about making promises?

Isn’t it amazing how we are eager to make so many promises on New Year’s Eve but find it very difficult to deliver on them? If we all will be truthful to ourselves, we would admit that we have been unable to accomplish most of the promises we make whenever we welcome a new year. But have we thought of what accounts for the failure?

Many things account for our failure to accomplish some of these things; the biggest of all is that we tend to make unrealistic promises. For instance a final year student at the university with poor grades makes it a resolution to graduate and get a good job in the same year. With the outstanding papers to write, there is no way that will be possible. Yes, miracles do happen but the world would be a better place if we make realistic resolutions. Always!

Excuses – Another enemy of progress. We all make excuses because it is convenient. Usually we will postpone the things we have to do and give ourselves all sorts of excuses to put them on hold. One of the excuses – lack of resources, we tend to belittle our readiness to start things we plan to do.

Have you ever really considered that feeling you get when you are able to do something that requires much effort with just a little? Do you remember the business you planned to start last year? Remember the excuse you gave yourself? Lack of funds but trust me if you had started with that little resource you had, you would have reached somewhere by now.

If it is a business that you want to start, do not wait until a huge amount comes from ‘nowhere’. Begin with the little you have and the big change you require will follow. Sometimes if we wait until we are ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.

Change of plans- Some promises that we make at the beginning of the year are interrupted by new plans or changes. We tend to abandon work towards the promises and divert our attention to new plans.

Procrastination-another dream killer is also another reason why we end up not fulfilling our New Year promises. We tend to think that there is more time. If your resolution for 2016 is to get closer to God, it should start right from today. There isn’t much time. 

A monthly or weekly review can help. It will make us know how far we have gone.

A successful friend told me he wrote his new year’s resolution on a piece of paper and kept it in his wallet. Each time he brought out something from his wallet, he saw it and it reminded him of the goals he set for himself that year. His method might not work for some of us but it sure will be good for others.

We hold the keys to the changes we want in our lives and we are the changes we want to see around us. Let’s start now.

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