The headlines are rolling:
“How to design your perfect 2024”
“2024 can be your greatest year ever”
“Reach all your goals in 2024”
“How to structure your goals so you really achieve them, this time”
“The only 3 things you need to do for success in 2024”
“Do this Day 1 for financial success in 2024”
<Insert the sigh of a man who has done more than a few cycles around the sun>
Instead of dreaming up my goals for 2024 I’ve invested considerable listening time after asking this question: What must I be? What we do flows from what we are; what we do shapes what we become.
The answer remains: I am to be a large, clean conduit of God’s love and grace to everyone He puts in my sphere of influence. I’m to become like an old tree, with deep roots, arms upraised to heaven, soaking in the sun and water, enduring wind and storms, providing food, shade and shelter for many, communicating with other trees, anchoring the forest ecosystem, useful even in death.
Other descriptions which fit:
- Bold truth-teller
- Cheerful warrior, dangerous to enemies of the good
- Courageous and self-controlled
- A deep listener, and worth listening to
- Provider for others
- Teacher, Encourager, Mentor
- Perceptive analyst of situations and trends
- Heavenly-minded and earthly-wise
What then shall I do? How then shall I devote my finite time, energy, and attention? What is the worthy way to walk in step with the Spirit, consistent with Christ in me, the hope of Glory?
- Meditate, pray, intercede, encourage, listen
- Study, think. Be an excellent steward of imagination.
- Sharpen thinking through writing
- Be a world-class anticipator without being a world-class fretter
- Disproportionately lavish and serve others, especially family
- Create space for fellowship and friendship
- Strengthen my body
- Savor experiences and be thankful
Every week should have elements of these, enough that less-worthy things are crowded out of the schedule.
I need specific projects and objectives which reinforce focus on the best ways to spend my time. My employment situation is a rich source of intellectual stimulation and opportunities to teach and mentor. Family get-togethers and related travel. Study objectives. Book projects, both reading and writing. Particular physical goals. Quality and quantity time with my beloved. Committed intercession for family and friends, and the larger world. Stewarding our little part of the physical world.
I share this in case it helps you: Don’t begin with specific projects – begin with who you aim to be, and work from there.
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When you realize about Feb 5th that you failed to complete all those things you expected to accomplish in January, take a deep breath and remind yourself that we overestimate what we can do in a few weeks and underestimate what steady work can deliver in 3 years.
Don’t give up. Don’t think “Well, I’ll have to wait until 2025 and try again.” Every day is a new day – the gift we rarely remember – so begin again. Reminder to self: I can’t change one iota of the past, and the future isn’t here yet, so focus on this present hour.
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Another recommendation: Set goals for six weeks instead of a year. Six weeks is long enough to accomplish something substantial, and short enough that you can’t procrastinate. If your goal is about a new habit or behavior, six weeks is often long enough to help it ‘stick.’ There are 8 six-week runs in a calendar year. You can start a 6-week trial at any time.
Goal-setting for six weeks is also helpful in a fast-changing world. We’re less likely to be frustrated that our goals aren’t achievable because something outside our control changed midway through the year.
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Another recommendation for those forced to write ‘annual goals’ which get evaluated at the end of the fiscal year: As much as possible, establish goals that can be finished by the end of the 3rd quarter. Then you have margin to flex and adjust work to finish things in 4 quarters. Take everything not expressly tied to the 4th quarter timeframe and get it done in the first 3 quarters. This strategy requires focused discipline earlier in the year – when you’re less tired – and minimizes the “procrastination crunch” at the end of the year.
