Before you lock in your habits for the New Year, assess now your start to 2020 …

You’ve probably heard it takes 21 days to form a habit, but that number is something postulated in the 1960s without any real research.

Well, real research has been conducted at University College London and a new number has been suggested – 66 days. Now, the researchers also stated the real number of days to fully form a habit varied greatly among those participating in the research. For some, it took as little as 18 days to form a habit, and for others it took as many as 254 days, but the average was 66 days.

What’s the point?

When you start something new, you should routinely assess your progress so you can make adjustments before you lock into habits. Doing so allows you to see where you’re succeeding, but it also shows you where you’re off track and need to make adjustments in order to finish well.

On January 1, you launched out into a new year. Some of you started with a boatload of resolutions, dreams, plans, and goals; others stepped into 2020 prepared to “wing it.” However you broached your new calendar year, it’s wise to take time NOW to assess your start before the activities you’ve been fostering the past month become permanent habits for the rest of the year (or much longer!).

One of the best ways of conducting self-assessment is to ask some penetrating, important questions to explore yourself. You can likely think of several that would be fitting, but here’s a dozen questions to prime the pump of your mind and start you thinking about things to ask yourself:

1. So far this year, how has your life demonstrated that Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord of your life, pre-eminent in all things?

2. How have you loved others (beyond your immediate family) and selflessly served them?

3. How have you positively contributed to the local family of God (church) you’re a member of?

4. Who have you shared the Gospel with in January, or at least pursued an opportunity to do so?

5. What are you consistently doing to be a good steward of your physical body?

6. What’s your practice — when, where, how — to make time to sit and think?

7. As an employee/employer, what tone have you set for yourself so far this new year?

8. Thus far this month, what keeps your spouse believing that he/she is second only to God in your life?

9. Based only on what your children have observed of you during January, what would they believe the most about you?

10. Based only on your spending during the month of January, what would your spending reveal is most important to you?

11. How have you practiced appropriate self-care so far this new year?

12. Almost a month into the new year, what adjustments have you already identified you want or need to make to finish the year well?

Scotty