Like me, some of you reading this hit 2014 running hard. Short holiday, Christmas chaos, wondering why you bothered staying awake for midnight on the 31st… and suddenly you’re back into normal routine and busyness again. No time for New Year resolutions, despite the fact that you had vowed to make some last year. No time for setting some kind of priority list for 2014, even though you do believe in living intentionally. And you’ll soon be saying things like “Wow, is it really February already?” as you make a hasty mental note that you really must get the whole goal-setting thing right next year.
But 2015 may not happen for either of us. Tomorrow is a likelihood, but certainly not guaranteed. Next year? A distant hopeful. There are reminders everywhere that we each have invisible clocks over us ticking towards a very definite end…
But you certainly have TODAY. And if you’re given enough ‘todays’, you’ll be at the end of another year before you know it. But when you get there, how will things look? What is your preferred future? What is your Personal Vision for 2014?
If you haven’t put one down in writing yet… do it. Grab a piece of paper, or whatever device you record stuff on, and get something down. It will be something for you to hold on to and be held to when the days you’re given start getting murky and unfocussed.
Here are 3 important things to try to keep in mind as we grab a coffee and get started:
- COMMIT: All my ways and plans seems pure in my eyes, but the Lord weighs my spirit. OUCH! Therefore whatever goals and vision I set, as good as they may seem to me… I must commit them to Him constantly (Proverbs 16 v 2 and 3).
- PROACTIVE: I must set my vision for 2014, and then live it out daily! Out of CONVICTION rather than CONVENIENCE. However many days I have entrusted to me on earth; I want them to be proactive and intentional, rather than haphazard and unfocussed. I read this recently (not word for word, but it goes something like this): Proactivity is the ability to subordinate impulse to a value/decision/vision rather than to a circumstance/environment/feeling.
- ATTITUDE: “Choosing one’s attitude is the last of the great freedoms” (Victor Frankl wrote and lived this out inside a Nazi concentration camp). The attitude I choose every day for my work, relationships and circumstances is absolutely KEY to my success and significance this year.
Helpful? I hope so. Challenging? Very. Important? Definitely.
