Here we are, the end of the first week of a new year, and everyone has made their New Year's resolutions. Countless individuals have resolved to lose weight, spend more time with their families, pay off debts, or make other worthy changes. The magic of the "new year" spurs everyone to take stock and improve where possible. Unfortunately, the reality is that most New Year's resolutions fall by the wayside within 4-6 weeks, according to research.

Why is this true? One word: inertia. What is inertia? According to Dictionary.com, inertia is defined as "the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force." What the heck does that mean? In plain English, it means that an object in motion stays in motion while an object at rest stays at rest UNLESS something stronger comes along.


To apply this idea to those resolutions, people are still the same people from December 31 to January 1. Just because the resolution is made does not mean that Joe Shmo will wake up on January 1st completely immune to his previous temptations. Joe needs something that will push him over the hump if he is going to stick to those resolutions despite those temptations. Without that something, he will revert to his previous state; it's simple physics. So what's a person to do?


What makes you tick? What drives you? What grabs your heart and just will not let go? Is there something, anything, that just makes you choke up EVERY SINGLE TIME? What is it? And how can you apply it to your goals?

My "resolutions" for this year are simple: to get into the best shape of my life (physically, mentally, and spiritually) and to finally get organized. My "whys" are more complicated but briefly include my God, my husband, and my own sense of peace. Those three things have more power over my heart than anything else in the world. By connecting them to my goals, I have enough force to power through any bit of inertia.