How to Keep Your New Year's Resolution | Fr. Peter Mussett

Dec 30, 2025

Fr. Peter Mussett, a seasoned Catholic priest, shares profound insights from his extensive experience with confession. He explores why many struggle to change, emphasizing the crucial role of conscience and mercy. Discover how habit stacking can help break bad habits and why unforgiveness leads to temptation. Fr. Peter discusses the importance of moving from reactive to reasoned living and the transformative power of trusting God's mercy. This enlightening conversation offers practical strategies for real change and self-reflection.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Conscience Is God’s Interior Voice

Conscience is the inner place where the Holy Spirit speaks and points to needed change.
Confession sits at that nexus and reveals the Spirit's movement toward transformation.

ADVICE

Build Habits With Proximity And Stacking

Make a concrete plan using habit principles: make good habits easy, attractive, and proximate.
Use habit stacking to attach a desired habit to an existing enjoyable routine and remove triggers for bad ones.

INSIGHT

Unforgiveness Fuels Temptation

Unforgiveness fuels victim identity and provides excuses for giving in to temptation.
Letting go of resentment removes a key psychological fuel behind repeated sin.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Why do we keep confessing the same sins… making the same resolutions… and falling back into the same patterns?

In this practical and powerful episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, I sit down with Fr. Peter Mussett, a priest who has heard thousands of confessions—and has lots of advice to share about human nature, change, and mercy.

In this conversation, we talk about real sins and real solutions so you can make real changes in your life.

Fr. Peter explains:

-Why most people don’t actually change
-The hidden link between unforgiveness, victimhood, and temptation
-Why willpower alone never works
-How habit stacking, conscience, and mercy work together
-Why God sometimes allows us to keep struggling
-And the one mindset shift that finally makes real change possible

If you’re frustrated with yourself, tired of starting over, and feel like you can't conquer your vices, I hope this interview will give you hope, clarity, and a true path forward.

Highlights:

0:00 Why real change is so hard

2:08 Why priests see what most people never notice

7:00 The beauty of Confession

16:58 The movie-scene insight that reveals how people change

19:18 Conscience: where God actually speaks

24:13 Why “deliver us from evil” is where change starts

27:27 The difference between passion-driven and reason-driven living

29:23 Habit stacking: a spiritual key to breaking bad habits

33:31 How unforgiveness fuels temptation

39:28 Why mercy—especially toward yourself—changes everything

57:33 “You are not your sin” (John Paul II’s powerful reminder)

1:07:36 A prayer for anyone frustrated with themselves

........

Support the creation of this content by becoming a Missionary of Joy with a monthly gift to Real Life Catholic and get free access to the new Living Peace study series: https://bit.ly/4nTHbN0

........

Join Chris Stefanick on pilgrimage: https://www.reallifecatholic.com/pilgrimages