Tag: new year

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?

 

Reflect and move Forward

“Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things.” Kenneth Branagh

We are coming down to the end 2018. How has this year been for you? The end of the year always brings out our reflective nature. There are times when it gets to the end of the year and I reflect on that current year and it feels like I wasted a year. You ever have that feeling where you can’t really think of what you did with your time. There have been years where I had goals I wanted to accomplish and habits I wanted to change only to  come to the end of the year knowing that I had wasted another year. You’ve probably had a similar experience. Looking back too much can cause you not to move forward.

One of my goals for 2018 was to reach a certain weight. This may not be something that you are aware of but it is becoming more mainstream for men to openly care about their health. That starts with our weight. Well the previous year (2017), I had gained quite a bit of weight and I was feeling tired, I started having different health challenges and I knew that something needed to change.

I prayed about it and started a diet plan that helped me get down to the weight that I needed to. I’ll admit, it hasn’t been easy and this year more than ever I’ve had to watch what I eat. Have there been times where I didn’t stick to my diet. Did I through my plan out of the window? No, I vowed that this time would be different. I prayed, I asked for help from my wife, I did whatever I needed to in order to get back on the plan and turn a habit into a lifestyle.

How do we reflect on the past, but then move forward with our futures? We don’t want to let our past hold us back. It is possible and we can look back at 2018 and instead of being stuck in 2018, we can propel ourselves into 2019.

  1. Be honest about what didn’t work. There are too many times where we romanticize the failures. We look at our #TBT pictures and post and remember events and things as being better than they were. Be honest about what went good and what didn’t go quite as good as planned.
  2. Make a plan for the next year. Reflecting can be great but looking back to much can keep us from going forward. Plan for what you want the next year to look like. Goals and dreams without a plan will just be “what ifs” at the end of the year.
  3. Extend yourself some grace. Know that there are going to be hiccups along the way. The path from where we are to where we want to go is never a straight line. We can be our hardest critics when things don’t go the way we think. Give yourself some grace through the hiccups.