Should we even set New Year goals?!
Should we even set new year goals?
This is the week I typically step back and set new year goals. But with 2020 being like… whoa. How am I supposed to set my sights on anything when everything is up in the air?
Two types of people set new year goals
I feel like there are two types of people in this world when it comes to setting new year goals.
- You have one group of people who want to goal set, write things down, create a vision board, and run hard in that direction.
- And then you have people who, instead of setting goals and writing them down, set an intention for how they want to feel and the rhythm that they want to have each day.
^ They set a daily aim towards a specific spot and then aren’t too concerned about where they land as long as they are further along than where they started.
Observation: Each of them gets their minds right about what they want the next year to look like, just in different ways.
Set new year goals with a reliable Leader.
But what do you do when you’re coming out of the year that we just had and you feel like there is no way you can anticipate what’s going to happen in 2021? We think that the crazy is over…or maybe it’s just beginning? Or maybe it’s completely over and we’ll all go back to normal? I don’t know what you believe. I’m not even sure what I believe as far as the reality of what’s going to happen over the next twelve months.
All I know is that I am holding on to someone who is reliable, someone who is going to hold onto me in all of the crazy.
And I can have a slow and steady course of action based on what the Bible tells me.
I lie somewhere between those two types of people, the crazy ones with their vision boards and the ones comfortable with floating along to see what happens. I’m in the middle.
So I was writing down a couple of things that I want to focus on, and I realized that it’s not always easy for me to focus on what God wants me to focus on.
One, because I am selfish. And two, because I am very ambitious. But God has been making me pump my brakes and slow down a little bit on what I think is most important.
I can hear Him saying, “ Laura, you are a stubborn ox. I will hold you back and redirect you, whether you like it or not, to make sure you are investing in the right things.”
When I set new year goals, I have to fall in line with these five priorities:
ONE: I want to continue to disciple my kids.
Now, that’s not hard for me to want to do, but it’s hard for me to do. This past year was my very first year homeschooling, and I do count that as a great step toward my goal of discipleship.
I have been pouring into my kids, loving them, being patient, trying to teach them what’s right. Y’all, I have an eight year old, a six year old, and tomorrow Scottie will turn three.
Let me tell you the hard times of trying to make sure I get them somewhat functional and successful before they leave this nest. And you might think that’s a long way away, but my 8 year old, I’ve not even got 10 years before he’s like ‘peace out, I’m done.’
That’s not a lot of time to make sure he doesn’t grow up to go to jail, let’s be honest. You know, I don’t have turn-key kids that I just push through the system, expecting them to raise them, teach them character, teach them what’s right and wrong.
No, there is some effort, some hammer and chiseling, happening to my children and to my heart to ensure that we raise them to hopefully be successful adults.
That is a large part of my life.
TWO: I want to create a life-giving home.
I feel like there is so much room for improvement with this one, as far as keeping my house comfortable and warm, having systems in place where I will actually have dinner at the table, and we will actually do chores, and we will actually pick up after ourselves.
You know, it’s not simple at all, but I just want to have a home where my family can count it as their home base. A place to refuel and recharge, to feel 100% safe to be themselves in their successes and failures.
I feel like the way I am explaining this sounds like a life-long thing that I’m trying to put into the next twelve months.
It’s not that, it’s just what I want for our future and it has to start somewhere. These are my two top priorities because they don’t just happen unless you cultivate them.
THREE: I want to date my man.
We’ve always said that we want to do monthly dates, but we just haven’t. So I would like to do a monthly date, maybe even do a quarterly outing.
This may be a little over zealous, but we have a sailboat, and I thought it would be so fun to take the boat out for a night once a quarter.
We could have happy hour watching the sunset. That, to me, could recharge us. I mean sailing is really hard to me, so I don’t know how much recharging there would be.
Especially when it includes having to work with your spouse, sailing a boat in and out of the dock. Now that I think about it, maybe that would be harmful for our marriage instead of helpful, but I don’t know. It is a nice thought.
FOUR: I want to work.
Y’all, I like to work. I do. I love what I get to do for my careers. I have two businesses, you guys know I write, and then I have Beachbody. I do fitness, I do bible studies, I love doing those things.
And God has to slow me down a lot of times. He has to pump my brakes and remind me that those are good things, but they are not the great things.
These passions that I have will always be here, but I will never again have the chance to disciple the kids that God has given me and to maintain my marriage. So I have to constantly make sure that my career ambitions don’t smother my priority to first be a mom and a wife.
Does anyone else have a hard time with that? I’m a terrible person. I love my family, they’re everything to me, but I love to work.
FIVE: I’ve got to take care of me.
This is not really last place, it’s kind of sprinkled in to all of those areas. I’ve got to set some boundaries so that I know what I am supposed to be doing to refill, to be sure that I am not working from an empty tank.
Because if my tank is empty, none of these things will be done effectively. So I’ve got some things in place that I’m going to try to do.
Obviously, diet and exercise, stress management, those kinds of things. I mentioned date nights. I really want to hang out with my friends more, I want to make time for friendships.
It’s easy to go through your life and not make time for friends, and that’s a shame. I really want to do better with that, even when we’re all on lockdown because of COVID.
God was saying, “Look Laura, you may want to timidly walk into 2021, but I’m asking you to plant seeds.
I’m asking you to get to work because you don’t know when I’m going to show up and do big things with what you’re investing in.”
And I wanted to share this so you can have it in mind as you’re setting new year goals and intentions and plans for the next several months.
Whether you’re a person that just plans things 24 hours at a time, or you’re someone that sets monthly goals, I hope that it helps you feel satisfied and content and proud of the self discipline that you have, wherever you are.
So set new year goals, be ambitious, go crazy, have fun, follow your passions, and maintain your priorities, but God’s word will give you all of the answers.
And any hole that you are trying to fill, that is what will do it.
“Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.” Ecclesiastes 11:1
This is not health, wealth and prosperity gospel, I’m not teaching that. But the Bible says to send your grain out and it will come back. Give to people, don’t hold on too tightly.
“ But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.” Ecclesiastes 11:2-3
I read that, and I was like ‘what?…I have no idea what that means.’ So I did some studying and it means unforeseen things will happen and we can’t do anything about them.
What’s done, is done. And if that’s the case, if we can’t control the unforeseen, then we can’t control things that are outside of our realm.
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another — or maybe both.” Ecclesiastes 11:4-6
God wants us to plant our seeds and get to work, because we don’t know where we’re going to profit. We don’t know what’s going to come back.
We don’t know what will create favor or what will just fall flat. And God doesn’t want us to wait, per verse four.
So don’t wait, get to work, still follow those dreams, still put a shovel in the ground, still make investments, still give generously.
Don’t live out of fear when you set new year goals or intentions for this next year.
Add Love Fast Live Slow book to your goal reading list.
I’m going to switch gears a little bit and tell you that, despite 2020 being what it was, this has been a really cool year for us. We launched our first book, Love Fast Live Slow.
We released a 6-week bible study to go along with that. I know a lot of our friends, maybe even a lot of you guys, are going to be participating in that bible study at the start of the year.
I know a lot of you guys are even leading bible studies, whether it’s in person or virtually. And we just want to say thank you for that.
Love this. Thank you for being so open Laura! You are amazing!!
Laura,
Thank you for being so real and open.
Loved reading thiis thanks