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A Reason to Reconsider Resolutions
It’s New Years Day and it is estimated that 40-50% of Americans will set New Year’s resolutions, but as most of you know, the success rate is very low, with only 9-10% achieving them, as most give up by mid-January. While 9-10% is better than nothing, what is behind the 90% failure rate? Unrealistic goals and a lack of accountability are often two of the biggest reasons. Unfortunately, sometimes an easier solution to this problem is overlooked.
If you are among those resisting making a New Years resolution, would you consider looking at these goals in a different way? In the book Atomic Habits (Clear, 2018), the argument is presented of how tiny changes can produce remarkable results.
Author James Clear provides a compelling illustration of the power incremental changes related to the British Cycling team. Since 1908, British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games, and they did even worse in the Tour de France having not won in 110 years. But things started to change in 2003 when they hired Dave Bransford as their new performance director.
Bransford immediately started implementing what he called “the aggregation of marginal gains" which was the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do. He broke down all the individual elements of cycling and asked how each component might be improved by 1 percent. They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable, rubbed alcohol on the tires for better grip, they had riders wear heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature. The list goes on as they researched and developed minor improvements in nearly every aspect of cycling.
The result of all these tiny improvements was significant. Just five years after Bransford took over, the British Cycling team dominated the road and track cycling events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where they won an astounding 60 precent of the gold medals available. Four years later, when the Olympic Games came to London, the Brits raised the bar as they set nine Olympic records and seven world records. That year they would also win the Tour de France and win five Tour de France victories in the next six years.
As great as those athletic victories are, they are temporary. The Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:14 uses an Olympic analogy to challenge us to run a race of discipleship with perseverance and discipline that we might win the prize or a crown that lasts forever. Is there not some area in our call to being a disciple of Jesus where a 1% area of improvement could make a powerful change? How about taking a little time this New Years Day and think of some small creative changes that could result in making us more like Jesus than ever before. Who knows, maybe by simply asking (Matthew 7:7-8) Jesus may have a tiny transforming seed of an idea that can produce great growth.
Blessings,
John
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