Time to Make Those New Year Resolutions! Or is It?

Focus on Your Personal Mission and Purpose Instead.

Russell Anderson

Dec 28, 2023

The Typical New Year Routine

The advent of the New Year means getting all lathered up and committed to completing extraordinary goals.

Not everyone will fizzle out. Some will even make some progress here and there!

But the truth is most of us will set aside our New Year resolutions.

Various studies suggest around 50% of the population will make some form of New Year’s resolution(s), but less than 10% of those making resolutions achieve them.

The evidence suggests most resolvers don’t even make it through January before giving up. Maybe that’s because over 40 percent start out expecting to give up on their goals by February!

But what the heck? There is always next year, right?

Why Do We Give Up on New Year’s Resolutions So Easily?

Surfing the internet provided some clues.

Here is my favorite reason why most people abandon their resolutions.

“When people launch their resolution on January 1st, they are making a change based on a calendar date when they think they are prepared to change their lives. This is the real reason most resolutions fail.
What are the chances that you will be ready for the action stage at exactly the same time the calendar rolls over to a new year? They are probably pretty slim.”
By Amy Morin and Reviewed by Ekuas Han in Psychology Today

January 1st is a date, not some kind of magical bean with properties that will change your life!

Here are three other reasons.

The resolution does not truly align with the actual internal view of ourselves.
The realization that our entire life doesn’t automatically change for the better, even when we enjoy some temporary success. So, we get discouraged and revert back to old behaviors.
Even accomplished resolutions end up a closed-end proposition in and of themselves without building toward some result of greater worth and purpose.

A Better Approach to Try: Focus Instead on Your Personal Mission and Purpose

“Which way is north?”

Ask that question of a group of people in a closed room without windows, and you are certain to get many varied answers.

Now, imagine that you wish to travel true north but do not know what way to go.

However, if one person in the group had a compass and there was no magnetic interference, it would make sense to seek advice from that individual.

A firm sense of direction is required to increase the prospect of accomplishing our resolutions.

As latter-day saints, we have a clear advantage when setting and accomplishing goals.

Our culture is clearly action-based, as evidenced by familiar scriptures.

“Be ye doers of the word.” (James 1:22)

“Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20)

Men are “to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.” (2 Nephi 2:26)

Our goals and actions gain substantial meaning once aligned with eternal principles and true doctrine.

President Uchtdorf said it perfectly.

“Our firm conviction of gospel truth is an anchor in our lives; it is steady and reliable as the North Star.”
President Uchtdorf, Peter F. “The Power of Personal Testimony.” October 2006 General Conference, Saturday afternoon session.

In the planning and goal-setting process, this firm direction, a “North Star,” is often referred to as a “Personal Mission Statement” or “Personal Statement of Purpose” and provides the driving force for the objectives and action plans, including “New Year’s Resolutions,” supporting the mission statement.

A principle-based purpose provides the performance standard for measuring our behavior and progress.

These are the Six Elements of an effective personal mission statement.

Principle-based;
Convey what is most important and valuable;
Represent who really matters;
Be simply stated;
Be relevant for as long as possible, and
Easy to memorize.

Some Mission Statement Examples

Following are some mission statements you may have heard before but didn’t identify them as such:

Our Heavenly Father:

“For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39)

Our Savior:

“I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
“And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me.” (3 Nephi 27:13–14).

By the way, here is the link to a beautiful devotional address given on August 18, 1998, at Brigham Young University by Russell M. Nelson, an apostle at that time.

Here are a couple of other personal purpose statements from the father and son team, Lehi and Nephi:

In simple terms, Lehi elegantly expressed his sole purpose as the patriarch of his family this way:

“I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls.” (2 Nephi 2:30)

Nephi also kept his personal mission statement short and sweet:

“For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.” (1 Nephi 6:4)

Were you able to identify how each statement reflects the six elements of making an effective mission statement?

Resolutions

Once you know your why, the resolution you can complete will naturally follow.

Do you notice how the action steps, or follow-up resolutions, naturally flowed from the mission statements?

For example,

The Savior followed up his statement of purpose above by setting his resolution as an example for us.

“Ye know the things that ye must do…; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do” (3 Nephi 27:21).

As the exemplar, he outlined the action steps or resolutions of His ministry and doctrine consisting of love, ordinances, prayer, knowledge, and endurance.

Nephi, consistent with his unpretentious personality, simplistically defined his undeviating personal resolve and standard :

“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” and then follows up with an affirming statement, “for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”(1Nephi 3:7)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

You can see the same pattern in the Church’s mission and purpose.

Here is the mission:

“God’s Work of Salvation and Exaltation

We come unto Christ and assist in God’s work by:

Here are the resolutions:

Living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Caring for those in need.
Inviting all to receive the gospel.
Uniting families for eternity.”

Conclusion: Focus on Your Personal Mission and the Resolutions Will Follow

By creating and embracing a mission statement with personal meaning, our goals and objectives, even our “New Year’s Resolutions,” will gain enduring value and become attainable as they are internalized and aligned with our eternal perspective.

With a personal mission statement in place, it becomes possible to rely on our own distinct North Star and reaffirm proper orientation by asking,

"Is what I am doing now at this moment consistent with my stated mission?"

If the answer is yes, continue on. If the answer is no, a course correction can be made, and the journey can be safely continued.

As we continue into the new year, help each other to progress step by step in faith as individuals and collectively as members of this community of Latter-day Voices,

“...let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2

With this mindset, let come what may. We will be fine. Have a great year!

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Thanks for reading and pondering with me!