New year, new you…right? When you fall short of your goals, God sees each tiny step you take in the right direction.
Every time January rolls around and the world is abuzz with New Year’s resolutions, I can’t help but feel anxious rather than excited. Setting goals has often felt pointless to me because I never seem to be able to accomplish them, which leaves me feeling guilty and unmotivated. February is a relief because by then, most of us have given up on our resolutions, telling ourselves we’ll try again next year, and we’re all back in our comfort zones.
However, I have gradually come to recognize through prayer, gospel study, and assurances from the Holy Ghost that perfect results aren’t necessary to my growth as a person and a disciple of Jesus Christ. Instead, I just need to focus on taking steps—however tiny—in the right direction.
In his talk “Forget Me Not,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf urges us to be patient with ourselves and focus on being grateful for the small successes in our lives. He teaches, “These successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him.”
In our achievement-oriented culture, perfectionism is poisoning our ability to be happy with the progress we’ve already made. While we shouldn’t be complacent or simply content to stay the same, orchestrating a major personal overhaul is usually not the best way to move forward either. President Uchtdorf reminds us that “God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.” Our Heavenly Father loves us perfectly in spite of our weaknesses and mistakes and does not expect perfection from us here in mortality.
I’m still learning how to find the balance between celebrating how far I’ve come and recognizing how much farther I need to go. Making the effort to reflect on the small successes and miracles in my life has reminded me of this principle: As long as we keep trying, God is more concerned with the state of our hearts and the direction of our feet than with the speed at which we are moving.
Read or watch President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk “Forget Me Not” to learn more about noticing and appreciating the small things in life.
Source: General Conference
—Alyssa Knutti, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY FRANZ BACHINGER
Find more insights
For more advice about making healthy goals, read Ashlyn Tilby’s Latter-day Saint Insights article “All Or Nothing? Physical Health Is Not About Extremes.”
Read or watch “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to learn how to cope with the Lord’s high expectations for us.