I’ve never been one for making New Year’s Resolutions. It seems pointless to wait until January to choose a couple of things that you either want to start doing or stop doing to improve your life. Yet each January about 50% of the population make New Year’s resolutions and nearly 90% of those resolutions are broken shortly after they are made.

So, forget about the annual resolutions and focus on your daily routines. It’s in routines, not resolutions that you will bring about significant change. Here’s why redeeming your daily routines are so important:

Small investments in one endeavor over time has a cumulative effect 

Less can actually mean more. Small investments of time will pay huge dividends over time. Think about it…it’s the consistent effort and energy that you put into your marriage, family, work, spiritual life, and physical health that will pay huge dividends as time goes by. On the contrary, a one time investment has little to no value. Trying to exercise for 4 hours to “catch-up” doesn’t do you any good. Neglecting your marriage and family week in and week out and then trying to make up for it on vacation is an act in futility. Remember, it’s the regular routine that makes the difference.

Neglecting a single installment of a regular routine has no immediate consequence

Missing one day of exercise or one date night with your spouse doesn’t really have an effect. You don’t feel disconnected from God by skipping your time in prayer for one day. There’s no immediate consequences to just missing one day. The problem is that once you skip one day it’s much easier to neglect your routine the next day as well.

Neglecting a regular routine over time has a cumulative effect as well

You cannot make up for missed opportunities. When you neglect time with family or skip exercising or “forget” to pray…the opportunity is lost forever. It’s the lack of small, routine investments over time that causes marriages, families, physical and spiritual health to breakdown. This is why married couples wake up one day and realize that they no longer know the person they are living with. It doesn’t happen over night…it happens because they have neglected their marriage in small ways over time.

That is why it’s imperative to start each day fresh and with a renewed focus on the daily routines that bring about significant change.

Make the most of this year by forgetting the resolutions and establishing daily routines. Achieve big change by making small investments in what’s important. Realize that it’s not what you resolve to do this year but what you do day in and day out that is going to make the difference!