Tag: 2019

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you ready for 2019? Ready or not it’s here. There are times where we can go through life and things are great and everything seems to go our way and then there are times where it can feel like life slaps us around and it takes everything that we have to keep it all together. I want this new year to be the best year for you. I want to share what I have learned that will help you get the best out of your year.

Happy New Year w/ greenery

These are tools that don’t just apply to the start of the year, but they can be applied whenever you want. You just have to be willing to do the work. Changing or trying upgrade a part of our life doesn’t have to be reserved for January 1st.

Over the past year, I’ve made some adjustments to my schedule. I’ve gone from working nights in a factory to a more corporate job. I’ve learned to balance work, marriage, ministry and friendships. Okay, well I’m learning to balance those things, anybody that tells you that they’ve mastered it is lying, we’re all learning to balance those things everyday. This past year has been filled with ups and downs and this is what I’ve learned that I believe will help us all have a successful new year.

What’s Important

  1. You need a morning routine. This may seem like a fad ,but trust me it matters. I’ve gone through stretches of both and if you want to feel productive, if you want to get the most out of your day then your morning routine matters. I wrote more about morning routines here that you can read about here. 

 

  1. Set Goals. I’m not here to tell you how many goals you need to set, but you should have goals. When doing your goals break the goals down into what you want to accomplish in each quarter of the year. This may take some time, so don’t rush through the process. Nothing great will come of it if you rush through the planning process. I couldn’t fit everything about goals in this section but I wrote more to help us that you can read here. 

 

  1. Your spiritual is just as important as your physical. Some people like to pray, some people like to meditate. I’m not here to argue about religions. I’m a Christian  and I believe in the power of prayer. Your spiritual life is just as important as your physical life. It actually is more important because it impacts your physical life. It does more to keep you balanced than the other way around.

 

This year can be better than the last year, but it won’t happen by accident. We have to be intentional about our time and our lives.

Discussion Question: What has stopped you in the past from accomplishing your goals? What steps will you take to make this year different?

 

Life Balance

Does your life have balance? How has this year been? Are you looking back thinking that you should have spent more time with your family or friends? The days, weeks and months can go by so fast that everything can seem like a blur.

Out of Balance

What really happens is that our lives can become out of balance that we spend too much of our time trying to maintain balance. We’re trying to keep our heads above water and never get to where we can enjoy our lives.

This year my wife and I have discussed goals that we want to accomplish together. Things that we want for our marriage, how we want to be socially, the growth that we want to see spiritually. We’re still in the discussion phase, but when it comes to doing something together in your marriage, these things take time. I would encourage you to do the same. Don’t rush through it. You don’t want to miss the benefits of the process.

Doing it Together

One of the first benefits is that you have someone that can give you another perspective. We want to have balance in our lives. There are times where we don’t know that we’re out of balance and we can think that we’re doing a good job with our lives. We can pursue a job, our latest project, or habit with a singular focus that can be hard to break. We need someone to help us see when we’ve lost sight.

Another benefit is that you have someone who can be your accountability partner. Have you ever started a goal at the beginning of the year only to have it go unfulfilled? Why did this happen? For most of us it’s because we missed a day which then turned into a week and befoer you knew it, it seemed hard to get started again so you quit. Having your spouse as an accountability partner means that there is someone to regularly check in on you to see how those goals are going.

These are just a couple of ways that we can maintain balance in our lives. We’re getting ready to go into a new year. Don’t let it drift by or be a person were you’re so focused that you miss life happening around you. It’s all about balance.