Tag: self improvement

Change The Narrative

Hopefully, the year is off to a good start. Are you still holding on to the changes that you want to see in your life? Have you held on to your why?

What’s Your Why?

If you’ve fallen off the wagon, don’t lose hope. A bad moment, day, week or month does not have to determine the rest of your year. You can always change the narrative.

It may only be the beginning of the year, but as much as we want the new year to be a new start, we really just carry over the previous year. Think about it, how many times has the date changed and you had a completely new start? Probably never.

My Journey

This year I’ve embarked on a new journey that will stretch me. I’m embarking on developing a new writing adventure. This adventure has forced me to confront my insecurities in this area. I had these same insecurities last year but I never had to deal with them. Now, I have to deal with them and decide if I want to overcome them and grow in this area or will I go backward.

Going backward is easier, and frankly, it’s more comfortable to not have to grow as a person. While the date on the calendar changed, this new year didn’t mean that I was a new person. What I can change is the narrative.

What is a narrative? A narrative is basically a story. So if we want to change our story, it’s going to require that we grow. Changing our story requires more than just a change in the date.

1. Fight

Changing your story is going to require that you fight for the story you want. It’s going to be hard and you’re going to have moments where you doubt yourself, but you have to be willing to fight. You need to fight to change the narrative

2. Know Thyself

I mentioned it above, but there will be times where you feel like things aren’t changing, what will you do? How do handle the disappointments that come in life? Knowing yourself is a part of what it will take. You’re going to have to recognize when you hit a wall. Changing your narrative will force you to grow, and how you handle that process determines if the narrative changes.

3. Support is vital

When the tough times come you’re going to need support. You’re going to need people around you that will be able to encourage you through the hard times. Who you choose for that support is going to be key. Set yourself up with people that encourage, it isn’t something that you think about but it’s what you’ll need.

Discussion Question:

What do you want your narrative to say?

Planning Your 2020

Quote: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail 

 

“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

 

It’s the end of the year. The last month of 2019. How has this past year been for you? Has it been a year of great accomplishments? A year where you focused on yourself and grew as a person? Did your marriage make a turn for the better? Or maybe this year has just been another year like all the rest. It could be that this year was just another year. Nothing really changed or happened. Everything cruised along like all of the previous years.

 

A New Year is coming, are you ready

 

For me, this year has been one of experiences. There have been some great highs. Like starting this journey of homeschooling our children. It’s been such a treat to watch them grow and develop. This has been a year of my wife and I growing closer together. Being intentional about our marriage and working on it. 

This year has been a good year. But I’m also getting ready to prepare for next year. [We can enjoy the remainder of 2019 while envisioning a success plan for 2020] maybe this in place of the previous sentence 

 

  1. Reflect on the past year

 

To make sure that we’re not repeating the same things over and over each year we have to look at the previous year to see what worked. More importantly we have to look to see what didn’t work. 

We want to keep the things that work and then look to change what doesn’t work. Why keep doing something if it’s not driving you towards your destination?

 

  1. Dream of what you want next

 

How can you get to your destination if you don’t know where you’re going? Do you ever get in the car and drive with no destination in mind or no idea of where you want to go? No. We always at least have a destination in mind. 

Our dreams help us to see the destination of where we want to go. While there is time still left in this year, dream of what you want next year to be. Don’t put a cap on your dreams, let them run wild. The possibility for success is limitless when you can first see it 

 

  1. Goals and Habits Fuel the Dream

 

How will you go from where you are to the dream that you want? Our goals and habits are the fuel to get us there. Setting goals is a way to break down the dream in smaller steps that we can then begin to tackle. 

Through our habits we can then accomplish those goals, which fulfills the dream. All of these tie together. That’s why we have to know what works and what doesn’t work. 

 

The next year can be what we make of it. 

 

Discussion Question: What do you want your next year to look like?