ZigOn A Chance to Start Over

By Zig Ziglar, Christian Post Guest Columnist Friday, February 06, 2009

On February 7, 1992, I drove past the Plano, Texas, Recreation Center where I exercise-because there were no parking spaces. The next day I found a parking spot but people were lined up from three to six deep behind every machine in the weight room, making a good work-out impossible. I asked the young man at the desk what was happening. He responded that in about three weeks things would be back to normal because, "These are our 'New Year's Resolution' people."

Most New Year's resolutions quickly evaporate. However, the New Year's-or any-resolution is the most important step in goal-setting because it is the first step - and if we don't take the first step, there'll never be the second and subsequent steps. When you repeat that resolution enough times to yourself and to friends, family and others, an interesting thing happens. Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action and the architect of accomplishment. Repeat your resolution enough times and one day you will verbally stomp your foot and say, "I'm going to do it!" Your resolution has become a decision.

Once you've made a decision you realize that you must develop a plan of action. Everybody understands that if you're going to build a home, improve your marriage, get a better education, etc., you've got to have a plan. With a logical plan of action, your confidence goes up and you make a commitment. No responsible individual makes a commitment unless he or she has reason to believe they can fulfill that commitment, whether the commitment is to maintain the marriage, lose weight, get an education, or whatever. With a commitment, when difficulties arise your first thought is, "How do I solve this problem?" Without the commitment, your first thought is to bail out, and we generally find exactly what we are looking for.

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VERY IMPORTANT: Start every day expressing gratitude for what you already have. Fact: The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more you will have to express gratitude for. Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions.

Fact: The more you complain about the problems you have, the more problems you will have to complain about. The attitude of gratitude will help you to fulfill those New Year's Resolutions. Make those New Year's Resolutions today, then expand that New Year's Resolution to a "New Life's Resolution" and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!