It is a quiet morning in late April at the local YMCA. At 5 a.m., most treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes and rowing machines lay dormant, pristine, undisturbed by sweat.

Such a scene lies in stark contrast to what the gym looked like at the same time of day on January 2. The health club was crowded. Members could hardly shove past each other.

These two scenarios showcase the difference between how people act just after making a New Year’s resolution—zealous, dedicated, on fire—and how they act months later.

Of course, this does not only apply to fitness. New Year’s resolutions of any kind are now notorious for being doomed to fail. The longtime tradition can begin to feel futile.

People make all kinds of resolutions: Reading more books, quitting smoking, decluttering their home, getting involved in their local community, going back to college, recycling more—the list could go on.

“If you find yourself in the camp of setting lofty goals for the new year only to find yourself falling off the wagon just months (or weeks) later, rest assured that you’re not alone,” a Forbes article stated. “In fact, failing at New Year’s resolutions is so common that there’s even a slew of (unofficial) dates commemorating such failures—some sources cite ‘Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day’ as January 17 while others denote the second Friday in January as ‘Quitter’s Day.’”

A survey conducted by Forbes Health/One Poll showed that “the average [New Year’s] resolution lasts just 3.74 months. Only 8% of respondents tend to stick with their goals for one month, while 22% last two months, 22% last three months and 13% last four months.”

Clearly, New Year’s resolutions do not lead to success for most people. Yet this habit stems from a universal human desire: to change. Resolutions are an attempt to make a life change, big or small.

Wanting to change is a good thing. The desire to improve your life is not the problem. What holds us back is how we go about trying to achieve that change.

The Bible is a book about change and success. It does not endorse New Year’s resolutions, but it gives us something better: principles from our Creator that really work.

Lamentations 3:40 says, “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.” Scripture will guide us to “search and try our ways” and make the changes we need, at any time of the year.

Why do New Year’s resolutions fail, and how can we use godly principles to achieve lasting success?

Why Do Resolutions Fall Short?

There are various reasons why people do not achieve success with their resolutions. A major culprit is that these goals are often rooted in emotion. We look back on the year and regret choices we made. Or we desire a positive outcome for next year so much that it clouds our judgment.

Maybe we were not as responsible as we could have been with our spending, and we do not have much savings available. We could have shied away from a promotion we were offered at work but later realized we could have taken on the extra responsibility. If we allow our emotions to get the better of us, these setbacks could lead to being unbalanced in how frugal we are with our spending or how ambitious we are at work going forward, and ultimately we do not achieve what we set out to do.

Or we might have been so excited about accomplishing something—buying a house, getting married, finishing a college degree early—that the positive emotion blinded us to reality. We did not think through whether the goal was attainable and what steps were needed to get there.

Emotion is not a bad thing when it comes to making life changes. It can spur you forward. Yet it cannot be all there is.

Another roadblock is that people make resolutions out of peer pressure or tradition—they go along with what others are doing, but they may not have really wanted to change.

Or a goal was good in principle, but too vague to lead to tangible results. Maybe we set out to “be nicer to people” when something more specific and measurable like “make five new friends” would have been better.

We can also fall prey to focusing too much on surface-level external changes and not enough on internal issues like mindset and character.

Another big reason why New Year’s resolutions are ineffective is that they are built on the wrong foundation. The New Year’s holiday has its roots in pagan religion. It is built on the unbiblical traditions of men and the worship of false gods. Read “Why Christians Don’t Celebrate New Year’s” at rcg.org/wcdcny to learn more.

These issues all point to a central weak spot: a lack of commitment. Committing to the right values in life will help us overcome these obstacles and reach our goals. This is where God’s Word comes into the picture. It provides the principles we need to truly commit to success.

Evaluate the Change

If we want to change something in our lives, the first thing to do is to evaluate the change. Romans 12:2 gives us some guidance: “Be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

There is a lot to unpack here. For one, we are not to conform to this world—including popular views on change and success. We need to make sure what we desire is really what is best for us. We should also avoid comparing ourselves to the level of success we see in other people in the world. The verse also shows that we have to “transform” and “renew” how we look at change. This can be hard, especially if you have been making New Year’s resolutions for years or decades.

It also says we must “prove” what needs to be done. This includes proving whether or not the change is needed in the first place, as well as thinking through what we are going to do to bring it about.

For Christians, this includes evaluating whether certain decisions are God’s will or not, as the verse also said.

Does what you are seeking to do line up with God’s purpose for your life? Some goals have a more obvious answer to this question than others.

Evaluating whether a change is God’s will involves studying the Bible to see what He has to say about it. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

This part of the process can also involve getting help and advice from others. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

Prepare and Count the Cost

What should we do after settling on a desired change? Proverbs 24:27 says, “Prepare your work without, and make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterwards build your house.”

Just as a contractor would not immediately start building a house, garage or apartment building without evaluating the land’s suitability for construction, we should not rush into our goals haphazardly.

We need to develop a solid plan. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Develop a clear picture of the end result as well as the intermediate steps it requires.

In Luke 14, Jesus taught: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish” (vs. 28-30).

Whether we think of the bystanders in Jesus’ time laughing at the man who could not finish his building or we picture the regulars at the YMCA chuckling about the new members who stopped coming, this kind of mockery can be prevented by a simple exercise: counting the cost.

Like maintaining your household budget, counting the cost with our goals involves making sure we have enough resources to achieve what we set out to do.

This can involve a literal monetary cost, but also other elements: the amount of time you have in the day, the knowledge to achieve it, support from others, etc.

For example, if your goal is to journal every day, you will have to count the cost of incorporating this into your schedule. This could require you to cut back on another hobby you already have, or get up earlier to fit in your new endeavor.

Wisely thinking through our plans puts us in position to execute them effectively. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established.”

Do It with Your Might

After evaluating the change and counting the cost, it is time to act! Start carrying out that solid plan. Do not allow procrastination or laziness to get in the way of success.

Solomon wrote, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither you go” (Ecc. 9:10). Put all your might into accomplishing your chosen goal. The wise ancient king also reminds us that we only have a limited time to make changes.

Proverbs 10:4, also written by Solomon, says, “He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” We have to be diligent. Dictionary.com defines this quality as “constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything.”

Verses about being slothful—lazy—provide a cautionary tale of what not to do: “The slothful man says, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets” (Prov. 22:13).

This individual does not accomplish what he set out to do. Instead, he makes excuses. If we are not careful, we could find ourselves justifying why we are not acting on our goals. While our excuses may not be as silly as claiming the king of the jungle is roaming through the neighborhood, be on guard and ready to cut through this kind of thinking.

Proverbs 26:14 adds more: “As the door turns upon [its] hinges, so does the slothful upon his bed.” A lazy person has lost sight of the changes he needs to make and has afforded himself too much time for rest and relaxation.

Instead, we should be “not slothful in business; fervent in spirit” (Rom. 12:11). Maintain your passion for why you made the goal in the first place and work hard to get it done.

Measure Progress

Another principle is found in I Timothy 4:15. Paul wrote: “Meditate upon these things; give yourself wholly to them; that your profiting may appear to all.”

As you carry out your plan over time, you should “meditate” on how you are doing. This religious-sounding word simply means to exercise controlled thought about something. Sit quietly and reflect on what you have accomplished. Do not be afraid to revise your plan or the goal itself if you need to.

The New King James Version renders the end of the verse this way: “that your progress may be evident to all.”

As we make life changes, especially if they involve establishing or eliminating a habit, we should not have an all or nothing mentality. Progress is required—small, incremental improvement over time.

If your goal is to get up earlier each morning, it may not be realistic to set your alarm to 5:30 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m. on Day 1. It is better to work up to that goal, rolling back your wake-up time a few minutes each day.

If you want to learn public speaking, do not expect perfection on Day 1, or even Day 50. Simply getting through a speech of a few minutes and getting a point across is a great marker of progress.

As you move toward accomplishing your goal, be patient with yourself. Especially if what you are trying to work on is bigger or more deeply rooted, it takes hard work. If you slip up, recommit and keep pushing. Do not give up.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “A just man falls seven times, and rises up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” The Hebrew word for “seven” can mean, by extension, an indefinite number of times. A man or woman who is really committed to change will not give up when they fall. They stay on their journey to growth.

A Different Kind of Change

The steps we examined—evaluate the change, prepare and count the cost, do it with your might, and measure progress—could be used for many goals in life. They are general principles from the Bible that you can apply for success. They will help you make positive changes in your life.

To learn more, read Real Truth Editor-in-Chief David C. Pack’s booklet The Laws to Success. It brings more practical knowledge from the Bible and Mr. Pack’s life and ministry that will help you succeed.

However, any article about God’s view of change would not be complete without addressing a different kind of change. It goes far deeper than the New Year’s resolutions people typically make. It is called repentance.

In Acts 2, the apostle Peter told the people: “…God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (vs. 36). This was a culmination of a sermon that started in verse 14. Peter told his listeners that they were responsible for Jesus’ brutal beating and death.

The result? “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart [the Greek means pierced thoroughly or agitated violently], and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (vs. 37).

Here was Peter’s answer: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (vs. 38).

The word “repent” here comes from the Greek word metanoia, conveying a complete change of mind and direction. Peter wanted his listeners to totally change their thinking and way of life.

This Greek word is used throughout the New Testament. Repentance is fundamental to becoming a Christian. Hebrews 6:1-2 says it is a foundational doctrine of Christ. It is no accident that Peter’s words came on Pentecost, when the New Testament Church was being built. To be a Christian, a person must repent and be baptized.

It is admirable to want to do better in our health, finances, family relationships, hobbies and other areas. But smaller improvements are not what matters most to God. He wants people to totally change their thinking and behavior—from going their own way to following His way of life.

Acts 3:19 adds more: “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”

The word converted here also signifies dramatic change. According to the Outline of Biblical Usage, it means to turn to the worship of the true God, to return, to bring back. To be converted involves totally changing the direction of your life.

The Bible has much more to say about repentance and conversion than we have space for. Read our booklet What Is True Conversion? to learn more.