Resolutions and Finding Your Resolve

Happy New Year!

Welcome everyone to For Your Heart and Home. Welcome, welcome, welcome to a new year! Here at For Your Heart and Home my hope is that by reading these posts you will gain some inspiration.Thanks again for being here . Today's post is called Resolutions and Finding Your Resolve.  

I am very excited because this is our first post of the New Year and the launch of this blog. Like most, I have been pensive the last few months as I anticipated the end of the year 2023 and the beginning of 2024. I know many people around this time of year make long lists of things they hope to change in the New Year. The gyms will be full and there will be many of us committing to cleaner or healthier eating. How many listeners are vowing to spend less, read more or to practice more self-care? I must say it is so commendable of us to start the year with such good intentions. Let’s be honest though, in previous years, after a few weeks the excuses tend to creep in and we ended up right back where we started. The gym equipment or membership goes unused, we fall back into the old eating habits and we get too busy to hold ourselves accountable. Well I say not anymore!

I think you guys the problem is not that we don’t know how to make resolutions. I think for many of us the issue is with finding our resolve.

What does that mean anyway? What does it mean to find your resolve? My interpretation of the concept is simple. Finding your resolve is finding the drive and determination to do something. Finding your resolve is digging deep when the goings get tough. When self - doubt creeps in, when the excuses start to pile up; when it is easier to fall back into the old habits that’s when we have to find our resolve.

But, how do we do this?

1. Well, the first thing we have to do is to be honest with ourselves.  We have to accept what we have or have not done so that we can change it. You wanted to keep up with the workout routine but you have not its okay but we have to first be honest and come to terms with the areas of weakness.

2. The second thing we have to do is to give ourselves grace. We are not perfect but when we can be honest and give ourselves grace to make changes, we then lay the foundation we need that will strengthen our resolve.

3. To find our resolve we have to find ways to be more accountable of our behaviors. For some that means enlisting the help of someone else, for others they might rely on apps or other forms of technology. Whatever you have to do you do it so that you can be accountable for the actions you hope to change.

4. The next step to finding our resolve involves a renewal or re-commitment to the changes we hope to see. The great thing about maturing is that even when we falter we can always get back up and try again. So, if you kept up with a routine or change of lifestyle for a few days, or weeks or months and they you hit a rough patch it is perfectly okay to recommit and start again. We don’t have to wait until a new year starts to try again.

5. The last thing we have to do when committing to our resolutions and finding our resolve is to accept that there will be challenges but by fostering a positive self-outlook and by building a supportive community, we can work towards overcoming the difficulties.

I know that I am very critical of myself in most aspects of my life. I am constantly thinking of ways I can do things better or more efficiently etc. In the very tough times, though I have a strong family base of supporters, I have to be my own cheerleader reminding myself of my worth, reminding myself that I can do hard things. Resolve comes from within. I cannot get that from external influences alone. Building your resolve takes time, it takes effort, it takes you working hard and cataloging the peaks and valleys of your life. It helps me to look back when life is hard and to sit with the triumphs I have already overcome and that fuels my drive and desire to keep moving forward. Notice I did not say I like to look at what other people are doing. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the theft of joy”. Especially when life is particularly hard, you do not want to fall into the trap of comparing your life to others. It will not help you to move past the difficulties. Instead, look back to see the challenges you have already overcome then look forward with a heart of gratitude for where you are now then, use that to propel you to where you want to be.  

For many of us life takes work. We have to work at the careers we want, we have to work to maintain a positive space with our family, and we have to work at our romantic relationships if I am being honest we have to work at many things. However, today as you are listening to this do not be discouraged, do not feel down or that your life is impossible. Recommit to what you want to see happening in your life. Dig deep so that you can exercise your resolve and prove to yourself that you are filled with greatness. No one can take your potential. No one can take your drive so use it this year and always to fuel the desires of your heart.

As you reflect on the ideas presented here I hope you can walk away having gained some inspiration and perspective.  I hope you were encouraged by our topic: Resolutions and Finding Your Resolve.

Come back for more inspiring content from us here at For Your Heart and Home and feel free to leave a comment. Thank you and be well.