2018 comes with its brand new calendar pages. Most of us haven’t even had time to start filling up the squares. It looks clean, unused, hopeful. But what will we write on its pages? I don’t know about you but I come to this New Year needing everything a fresh start can offer. But how can I make sure that I squeeze every good and productive possibility out of this New Year?
I’ve tried the resolution route. I’ve made heroic attempts to address bad habits with optimistic goals. Some actually helped me make life changes. Others were little more than wishful thinking and were forgotten by February.
This year, I’m trying something new. I’m looking back in order to move forward. I learned some important lessons from the past year. Before I say good-bye to 2017, I want to make sure I don’t forget them. They laid a foundation I want to continue. That’s why I took time to write them down. When I did, I knew I had my list of goals for the New Year. They have a familiarity that other of my resolutions have missed. I’ve already learned from them, but they have more to give. Posting them here is also my accountability step. So here is my starting list of lesson-motivated goals for the New Year:
Lesson
Relationships breathe life into everything.
Without them, life is flat and tasteless.
Goal
Make priority time for relationships.
Keep drawing the circle of my interactions wider and go deeper.
Lesson
Change is not my enemy; resistance is.
Goal
Let God tell me where I need to stand firm or let go.
Make change about growth.
Lesson
I stored too many things and lost their value because of it.
Goal
Refuse to store what I do not use. Keep purging!
Lesson
Grief reveals how much I loved, and love heals.
Goal
Live the love, and share it with others.
Lesson
God’s call to write is an invitation not a task master.
Goal
Always write from the invitation not the deadline.
Lesson
God’s unchanging character, integrity and unfailing love
anchor and strengthen me.
Goal
Use Bible study, worship, and prayer in ways
that allow God’s character to form and refine mine.
There it is, as concise as possible; but not simple. I have a lot of work to do this year. Because each goal connects to what I’ve already started, I think I’m actually excited to keep letting these goals shape me in 2018. The New Year is an invitation to live each day with intentional growth. May it be the same for you.
