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Welcoming this New Year
Gentle questions and prompts for the 3 major topics I think about as I plan the year.
I love the beginning of the New Year. I enjoy the fresh calendars, the new planners, the clean crisp notebooks, and the restructuring of my routines. I enjoy having some time for reflection and goal setting.
Often in my time spent planning, I think about 3 major topics.
1. Clarity and Focus
We all want to spend our time wisely and make progress in the areas that matter to us. None of us want to waste our time or energy.
But without planning or reflection that is exactly what we end up doing. We each have unique goals to meet at different times in our lives. The way that I spend my time now is very different than it was 10 years ago.
In this area I stop and ask myself these questions:
What am I doing right now that does not work for me anymore?
What is essential? What could be made effortless?
2. Habits
Habits and routines slowly build the life that we are living. They create a structure for how we spend our days. I want to be intentional about my life and how I spend my time. I do not want my efforts wasted.
We can choose to be intentional about the next year ahead.
I look closely at my daily schedules and journal:
What do my morning routines look like? How do I prepare for the next day?
What habits do I have that help me be more effective?
How can I add in better habits?
“How we spend our days is actually how we spend our lives.”
3. Slowing Down
Ahhh…. rest. I have such a love/hate relationship with it. It is something I write about because I am bad at it. I struggle to understand it. Sabbath is a topic I wrestle with. Living a life that is fully reliant on God, trusting Him with my plans, and holding things loosely. Sigh… It is so hard!!
Here are some blog articles that will help:
If all of my planning for 2024 looks like hustle and doing more then I am headed towards burnout again. That is not sustainable. I know I need to add in weekend rest and seasonal rest.
So as I look at my schedule and my goals, I think about slowness:
What does Sabbath look like for me in this next season?
What structure do I add to each day to spend time with God and trust Him?
As you enjoy having some time of reflection and goal setting let these questions guide you. Be encouraged by your successful moments in 2023.
Use your personal growth and your finished goals to push you forward into this next season. We are all doing our best to move forward at our own pace. You are not behind.
May 2024 be a year of beautiful moments and growth for you!
🎆🗓️Happy New Year! – April
Photo by Kier in Sight Archives / Matthew Waring / Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash
