This is the first post of a New Year. A Happy New Year, if you choose for it to be.
This month I will share thoughts about the importance of intentional living, how to decipher where to go in the New Year, and how to discover what your real goals are. But first, I want to invite you to reset.
Yes, reset.
Isn’t it American of us to blow past the holidays, celebrate the New Year, jot down a few resolutions, and keep going?
I am type-A plus, so make no mistake that this blog will MOVE this year — emphasis included!
But, not yet.
We need to take stock first.
To that end, here are some guiding questions:
What is the most important thing you accomplished in 2021?
What are you most proud of?
What course correction do you need to make in regards to how you lead yourself?
What did you learn?
How will you use what you learned to live differently in ‘22?
I could easily write more questions, but I want to keep them manageable in length. My invitation is to STOP. Before you resolve to go forward, understand the road you have traveled to get to where you are currently.
To be someone worth following, you need a clear understanding of yourself. Without that, you cannot positively influence other people well because you, yourself, are lost.
To get you started, I will model these questions. As you will see, the answers do not have to be long. They just have to be authentic.
My answers:
What is the most important thing you accomplished in 2021?
My marriage with Sarah is as strong or stronger than it was going into the COVID pandemic. This is the most important human relationship I have, and I am proud of where we are. Praise God!
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of how I showed up for my kids’ events in the midst of an extremely busy year at the office. This was not true pre-COVID, but I have intentionally shifted some things to prioritize this limited time with them. I am proud of this.
What course correction do you need to make in regards to how you lead yourself?
This will go hand-in-hand with what I learned below, but I need to be more gracious to myself. There have been too many anxious Sunday nights (post coming later in the month on this), and I have wasted too much energy on non-consequential things.
What did you learn?
One lesson I learned over and over this year was that my leadership flows out of my abundance, meaning I cannot give what I do not possess. This sounds lofty, so allow me to unpack it. What I mean is that I cannot give love to others when it is lacking inside myself. When I am stressed, anxious, and bogged down by extraneous issues, I am not a good leader of others. Therefore, I need to pay attention to the limits I have as a leader. I need to rest. I need to practice detachment from the non-consequential things. I do not have to have an opinion of everything. Instead, I need to be centered in Christ, whole, and content in Him. I need to live with the realization that in “this world, there will be trouble. But take heart! I (Jesus) have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This world IS messed up (emphasis mine). So, I have to be detached from the reality of its messiness and focused on my mission. When I operate this way, I have the power of God to bear all circumstances.
How will you use what you learned to live differently in ‘22?
I have rewritten my Key Results Area (KRA) for 2022 to begin with, embracing my calling. It is clear to me that the future of work is human and that impacting humanity is work’s highest calling. As a Christ-follower, I am called to full-time ministry right where I am. This means that I need to lead in a way that uplifts, encourages, and dignifies others. What’s clear to me is that our business is successful due to the hard work of OTHERS. The best and highest use of my time is in encouraging, inspiring, and incentivizing their hard work. They are the indispensable ones.
A note to the reader: Admittedly, not everyone shares my worldview, and I am okay with that. My covenant to you this year is that I will not hold back. What I wrote above is real.