“And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold…” (Doctrine & Covenants 82:18)
I love a fresh new year. It is so full of possibility. I love that the whole world is focused on setting new goals for improving themselves. While I don’t love the idea of resolutions that are either kept or broken, I like to take some time at the start of a new year to set some goals and measurable action steps for accomplishing those goals. The focus is not on fixing everything right this minute and if I eat too many cookies tomorrow then I have failed. It is about stepping back and seeing how I want my life to look at the end of the year so that when I reflect on 2018 I can feel good about the way I spent my time and energy. President Hinckley said “We have work to do, you and I, so very much of it. Let us roll up our sleeves and get at it, with a new commitment, putting our trust in the Lord…May we go with determination to try a little harder to be a little better.” (“We Have A Work To Do, General Conference, April 1995). His words come to mind every time I think about goal setting – “try a little harder to be a little better” every day.
In 2017 one of my big goals was to launch this devotional project. It still doesn’t look exactly the way I would have wanted it to, and I have so many big dreams and plans for it that I still hope to reach, but it is launched. And it is reaching people. Thank you for being here. I still feel a pull to work on the project and feel there are others out there who it needs to reach. I would love your help to find those people (and don’t forget to enter the giveaway on yesterday’s post!). In 2018 I hope to grow the reach of this project and get to work on a yearly devotional book – something tangible you can hold in your hands with devotionals for every day of the year. I am working to improve my mindfulness and meditation practice and make it more consistent. And I am working to put down my phone and be more present with my family. And to get the dang budget under control so we can live the life we want to live…
Meditation/Journaling Prompt: What are your goals for the year? Think small, big, realistic and big dream. Then make some action steps you can take today. I would love to hear some of your ideas as I am still working on mine and I might borrow them 😉
