Every New Year comes with new energy, and everybody typically looks forward to having a better year than the previous ones. We all long to record greater progress in our endeavours. However, in order to record better results, we must be intentional about life. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” We can easily substitute progress for change here. Progress doesn’t just happen as a matter of course. In other words, the fact that one crosses from 2023 into 2024 does not necessarily mean that the current year will be better than the previous one.

Progress doesn’t just happen as a matter of course…Any hope of transformation into a new person and experiences must be hinged on a change in the mind.

The hope of a better year will have to be anchored on what we can call the 3 R’s. Firstly, there has to be a RESET. While this may include several things, an essential aspect where a reset is compulsory is the mind. An old mindset cannot produce a new outcome. You must have heard how some people define insanity – that it is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome. It takes an upgraded mind to enjoy an upward movement in life. This is the import of our text which comes out so poignantly in the New Living Translation – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT). Any hope of transformation into a new person and experiences must be hinged on a change in the mind.