Welcome to another Fresh Start Mondays, where we change the narrative… as our focus this year is on fulfilling our purpose with deliberate effort, it is necessary to do assessments and adjustments where needed. Therefore, we will be looking at January in hindsight.
Woo-hoo, we have come to the end of January and it feels so good, yet it went by so quickly. As a part of living on purpose, it is important that we assess our progress. Have we been intentional about our goals? Have we even taken the time to figure them out? Sometimes things can feel like a tornado and we are just trying to stay alive and keep going. Don’t worry or feel alone, we have all been there at some point and many are there now.
As we go through our daily lives may we remember that the enemy of success is survival. Once we are stuck in survival mode, we will never truly access our potential, thereby not living our lives’ purpose, realizing the gifts already on the inside, just waiting to come alive!
January, really is just a glimpse of what our year will look like. If it took us off guard, so will the rest of the year if we don’t do something about it. If we have been crushing goals, then once we keep the momentum, we will continue. Notice something… in both instances without deliberate effort we will not accomplish much.
“January is a preview for the rest of the year.”
Hindsight involves understanding a situation only after it has happened. So, in looking back, have we really understood ourselves in the past month, the situations that we were a part of? From this reflection, there are some pertinent questions to be answered that will help us to move forward and make the best of our year and ultimately our lives.
- Who I am? We all change and grow into different versions of ourselves, hopefully we will become the best version of ourselves in each season we find ourselves.
- What are my gifts/talents? Many of us, and I believe, we all have talents that we need to hone in order to grow individually and to contribute to our environment.
- What are my goals? After answering the question of identity and our gifts/talents, the next question is what are my goals? How will I use my gifts/talents to become the best version of myself and contribute to the welfare of those around me?
- What are my plans to achieve my goals? This simply is asking, what am I doing about my goals? A good plan is only as good as the extent to which it is acted on. Therefore, a good plan on paper without action will get us absolutely nowhere.
Understandably, there may be many things demanding our attention, at this point it is important to keep a focused look at our goals and how they help us to live on purpose. Let me share with you a table, whose meaning has helped me to make decisions over the years, I hope it will be as beneficial to you.
Here, we recognize that many things will be demanding our attention, but our focus should always be on those things that are important. Therefore, in deciding to something we need to ensure that the activity is important and relates to our priorities. Otherwise, it is best to ask someone to do it for us or not do it all together, provided we are running a tight schedule. If our schedule is free and we can afford to, then no problem, go right ahead.
Let us therefore, capitalize on our January experiences and answer pertinent questions in this phase of our lives. Who am I? What are my gifts/talents? What are my goals? And what am I going to do about them? In doing this we will change our narrative…
