4 Keys to Your Best Year Ever
Happy New Year, dear friends! We are excited to celebrate our 10th Year helping our readers and listeners around the world live more fulfilled, John 10:10 abundant lives!
In January, while countless people make boldly optimistic and hopeful New Year’s Resolutions, only about 9% of people actually achieve them. So instead of making overly optimistic and mostly failed resolutions, let’s all make a conscious decision to make 2023 our best year yet! Here are 4 keys to making your best year ever:
- Clear the clutter.
Whether accumulated possessions that you never fully enjoy, emotional baggage of unreconciled relationships, or too many voices vying for your attention, clutter causes you to feel stuck.
To successfully move forward in any arena requires decluttering. And nothing hinders progress more than what I call “Rearview Mirror Living.” In the same way you can’t drive a car forward while staring at the rearview mirror, neither can you move forward in life while focused on the past. Whatever your clutter may be, Paul renders most excellent advice in Philippians 3:13-14, “…forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press forward.” Pray and ask God to help you get rid of the clutter and begin moving forward! - Strengthen Your Foundation.
With a new year, we all want to make changes. But before setting out to make changes in areas that need work, consider shoring up your foundation. What areas of your life are working well? If your marriage is good, what could you do to make it great? If your job is going well, what could you do to improve your performance? If your relationship with God is meaningful, what could you do to make it even more fulfilling?
Make an honest assessment of the varied areas of your life. Working on the strong areas first will keep your foundation strong and give you successes to build on as you attack areas of weakness. - Make Sustainable Changes.
The most successful changes are those made little by little, with consistent effort. Thinking you will begin the new year by running ten miles every day when you have never run before will set you up for failure.
I love a story Zig Ziglar told of his journey to lose weight. He had big ambitions, but at first was just happy to jog to the mailbox and back. You see, small successes build upon themselves while grand, unrealistic goals will cause you to give up. - Establish Clear Focus.
Runners succeed at marathons by “keeping their eyes on the prize.” What is your focus this year? What will make this your best year ever if you achieve it? Proverbs 29:18 states it best, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” If you set a clear direction and keep your eyes on a clear forward path, you will make this a successful year.
