New Year’s resolutions feel like a failure waiting to happen. Will a new year make a difference if I can’t follow through on things in July or October or as the year finishes?

A new year does allow the framework to create a new mindset, an opportunity that presents itself with each new day. Looking ahead is good when we create pathways for healthier, more content lives. It can be detrimental if we constantly look around the corner for the next thing that is always out of our reach and prevents us from being fully present and content.

How can we develop a mindset of contentment in 2024?

Pause

Much of our discontentment is fueled by hustle, hurts, and bad habits. Pausing a few seconds or minutes to let our brain catch up with our body grounds our entire self. Take a few minutes daily–set the alarm if needed–to step away from your tasks to pause, breathe, and give your mind and body a break from what’s taxing you so you can be aware of your surroundings.

Notice the colors or sounds around you. Listen to the sounds. What smells do you take in? Let your swirling thoughts settle as your “doing” task is simply pausing and being present in your life.

Practice Gratitude

Make a daily practice to list, mentally or on paper, at least five things for which you are grateful. Thank God for these things, situations, or people. We recently ate at an Amish home, and they silently prayed before and after their meal. The pause for gratitude at the end of the meal encouraged me to pause for gratitude after things happen or when I see a prayer answered.

Pray

If hurts or loss fuels discontentment, pray about the source of the wound (I am–read here). Pray about things out of your control you feel drives your unhappiness. Ask God to open your eyes to the beautiful things you have difficulty seeing.

Put the Best Voices in Your Life

The voices we fill our minds with are essential. Spend more time in the Bible than on social media or listening to podcasts (Think about it!).

Reading Psalms alongside other parts of the Bible directs your mind towards prayer, praise, and God’s perspectives about your life. Psalm 90 transformed my life during the pandemic lockdown when I thought life could not be good until the lockdown was over (which, at the time, went on and on).

Be Present

This is the longer pause of incorporating each strategy. Please just put your phone down except for designated times of the day. Instead of reaching for it when you’ve got idle moments in the carpool line or the doctor’s office, be present where you are.

Pause to let your body, mind, and senses interact with your surroundings. Train your mind to turn to God.

Live with your thoughts and feel the feelings beneath them. If you have racing thoughts or don’t like what feelings come up when you’re not distracted, it indicates something that needs tending to.

There’s a rhythm throughout Scripture of meditating on God’s unfailing love in the morning and his faithfulness at night. If you can’t focus on something when you pause, train your mind on these two rhythms:

• In the morning, God’s unfailing love.
• In the evening, God’s faithfulness during the day.

The Year of Contentment!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Contentment is just one of the secrets I share in my upcoming book Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life. I have seen this lived out in my Amish and Mennonite community, and I have been working on it. Ask for this book at your local book retailer or preorder it from your favorite online retailer.