I love all of the advertising and personal betterment goals this time of year. I’ve been invited to join countless Facebook challenges, and everywhere I look is a discounted gym membership or diet program. It makes sense, to be health conscious after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s feasting, but if I haven’t disciplined myself towards these resolutions already in life, Jan 1, 20whatever will not be the magic date.

Last year, I wrote a post titled I make No Resolutions and I stand by that…mostly. I guess to be completely honest, I make private resolutions. Rarely do I need to wait until January to find areas to improve, but I suppose the New Year feels like a fresh start. So I set my reading goals, my writing goals, my fitness goals, my spiritual goals, and my family goals, but rarely share them with anyone. They aren’t resolutions. They are goals.

As I see the years tick by faster and faster, I realize that in order to make forward progress there needs to be constant evaluation and goal setting. In my teens, it was easy to see where I would be in ten years…college, then job, maybe family. In my 20’s and early 30’s I was raising young children. Now, where I am in ten years depends very much on the goals I set now. My family is growing up, and before I know it my primary responsibilities will be moving out and setting their own goals — one always hopes.

So as I head into 2015, I will not resolve to never eat sugar again, hit the gym every day, or never raise my voice…resolutions I know will be broken before January 3rd. But I will set goals to read more, write more, pray more, and love my family more knowing that these are achievable daily decisions that not only improve my life, but the lives of those I hold most dear. When New Year’s eve 2015 rolls around and I reflect back on the year, I know the time will not have been wasted.

I wish the same for you.