Well, here we are. Arm in arm, standing together and looking out at a brand spankin’ new year. The ball has dropped, the confetti has all been swept away, and those annoying blowers have been tossed in the trash.

Wanna know what it holds? Well, I’ll let you in on a secret…

–you’re holding it!

You have more power than you realize to create the year (and the life) that you want. The problem isn’t IF you can reach those goals and stick to those resolutions. The problem is IF you can tap into your innate God-given power to actually get it done. If you’re like most people, you have established some New Year’s Resolutions to change your life in one way or another. But after working with countless clients, and studying behavior for over two decades, I’ll tell you that if you want your resolutions to have staying power, you don’t just change. You have to change the WAY you change.

And today, I want you to face that frenemy of yours known as WILLPOWER.

Are you familiar with it? It often masquerades as an excuse (“I just don’t have the willpower to do it) or a slave-driver (“C’mon, you’ve got the willpower, don’t you?). It sometimes seems as if it’s a character trait, you either have it or you don’t, kind of like whether you can curl your tongue or not (and, no, I can’t).

But if you are depending upon your willpower alone to meet those goals in your life, then your most likely outcome will be failure. Because when it all comes down to it, it’s going to take a whole lot more than sheer willpower to get you out of bed to exercise on that cold, dark, rainy morning, or to make you say “no” to dessert when your stomach is growling and you’re quickly spiraling downward into sugar withdrawal.

Instead of depending upon WILL power, why not use WORD power?

God’s Word has transformational power. It can level mountains and part oceans. I’m pretty sure it can do the same in your life as well. So, how do we do it? How do we exercise our WORD power?

Get into the Word. You can’t exercise power you don’t have. I have a great blender, but if I never stick anything into it and press “start,” I’m never going to enjoy a delicious smoothie. Make sense? If you are going to put God’s Word to work, you first have to put God’s Word inside of you! Make a commitment to READ your Bible.

Apply it to your situation. That’s right, get in there and get dirty, Mama! If you’re struggling with bitterness, then look up everything on bitterness. If you live in fear, then look up everything on fear. It’s not brain surgery. If you have a headache, you’re not going to drink cough syrup. Treat the sickness and get the healing you need for whatever situation you may be facing today.

Say it out loud! In the Bible, it says to SAY what you want to happen. “Let the weak say I am strong” (Joel 3:10). Does that mean people who say they are strong magically become strong just from saying it? No, not necessarily. But saying what you are claiming out loud will put you into the right mind frame to achieve it. Your success begins in your mouth, start speaking what you want, not what you’ve got.

Act like it’s already happened. Yeah, that’s right…ACT! No one is going to be passing out an Oscar to the best mom anytime soon, but you will get an award. You will achieve your breakthrough when you start believing and ACTING as if your prayers and dreams and goals have already happened. Want to lose weight? Then how would a healthy person ACT? Want to get better about managing your money? Then how would a financially successful person ACT? Get in God’s Word, speak if over your situation, and then TAKE ACTION!

Now I want to hear from you? What are your resolutions for 2017? What are some goals you want to achieve this year? Share them below in the comment section because I want to believe WITH you and pray over you today! And please pass this along by sharing it on Facebook!