The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.

William James

Happy New Year!

It’s time to put up a new wall calendar and it’s the season when our thoughts turn to goals and resolutions that will improve our lives. Advertisers love to remind us: new year, new you. External conditions matter. But internal conditions matter just as much.

The best way to improve your life, as it always has been, is to improve your choices.

I don’t know if the following choices qualify as goals or resolutions, but as I pondered on what makes life better, here are five choices I want to make this year.

1. let go of a grudge.

Life is too short to live in strife. Even if you have been done wrong and own a legitimate grievance … even if the person you have enmity with won’t reciprocate your desire for and attempts at reconciliation … forgive anyway. Let go of hurts, disagreements, and anger. Move on. Say goodbye to the stress and inner turmoil that rob you of joy. If you have a catalog of grudges, start with the easiest one to deal with and work your way toward to the toughest one. That will help you gain momentum and not get bogged down from the get-go.

2. go positive.

Cynicism, sarcasm, mistrust, and other forms of negativity are the prevailing zeitgeist of our age. Be different. Go against the grain. Dare to be considered strange. Look for the good in the world, in your friends and family and colleagues – and in your own life – and see if life isn’t miraculously better … even if nothing substantively changed. Maybe it isn’t “realistic” to ignore the bad, but it’s just as unrealistic to ignore the positive.

3. create or update a budget.

Money isn’t everything. Money shouldn’t rule your life. Money is a means, not an end. I agree. I agree. I agree. But nothing creates stress interpersonally and intrapersonally like money. Know what you make. Know what you are obligated to spend. Plan to sow seeds of grace through generosity and compassionate giving. Set aside something for the future. Refuse to go into debt. Figure out how much is left and enjoy what you can do with it, even if there are some things you can’t get that you thought you really needed. The peace of living within your means will easily outperform any sense of loss.

4. stimulate your mind.

Read a book. Memorize a passage of scripture or a poem or an important historical document – memorizing is almost a lost art! Go to a museum. Pick a topic you are curious about and study it throughout the year. A little mindless entertainment won’t kill you, but not challenging, exercising, and stimulating your thought life with excellence is a sure path to intellectual poverty.

5. get healthier.

I have a friend who claims that we don’t really have a system of healthcare but rather a system of sickness care. He breaks things down so simply that even I can understand the roadmap to better health. If you want to be healthier there are three simple choices to make: eat better; add more physical movement; handle stress. Diet, exercise, and mental health. This isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. It is about starting right where you are and doing better.

Are you ready for your best year ever? I can’t promise that. But I can promise that you can make this year the best it can be by making better choices. Your list may look a lot different than mine, but I’m guessing all of us have some ways we want to improve our lives.

What are you choosing to do this year?