New year, new goals?

Happy new year to you and yours!

We have just come out of the most exciting festive season of them all, Christmas season. There is something about Christmas that just gets everyone excited. From planning what the family will eat, where we will be spending the day, what clothes we will wear, when to put up the Christmas tree and decorate to taking "me and mine" family photos and creating precious memories. Christmas is just the best time of the year, at least in my world. This time of the year always has me thinking about the things that have happened all throughout the year; the blessings, tears, wins, loses etc. It is always good to look back and see how far God has brought us and this gives me hope and kind of excites me about what God is going to do ahead. I mean if He did 'that' last year then imagine what He is going to do in the new year. 

The year 2021 has been such a blessing to me, as I wrote on my Instagram page (@256sue), I spent the first half of the year pregnant with my first child and the second half of it learning to be a mother. I write this with so much joy because I don't think I’ve ever experienced such joy and love like I have with my little girl, but now that's a story for another day.

As I looked back with gratefulness, I pulled out my goal list for 2021 and I had indeed checked many of them with some that are a work in progress and others that didn't happen. Yes, there are some things I set out to accomplish last year that I wasn't able to and there are others that I was praying about that didn't happen mostly because they were out of my control. This year 2022, we go again! As I lay down in my bed at night after feeding my daughter at around 3:30am, this is usually my very quiet time where I think, dream, envision, reflect etc. while everyone else is asleep, I thought to myself, what do I want this coming year to look like? I started writing down in my notes on my phone because who switches on lights in the middle of the night to wake the entire house. I wrote one by one, what do I want my finances to look like? my family, my job, my business, my spiritual life, personal growth and health? (Thanks to my best friend who helped me to create different categories for the goals I have).

After writing them down, I realized that some of what I was calling new goals for the new year are just the same old goals, not achieved over the years, or half way there and I just keep bringing them into the new year. Yes, I have always wanted to be healthy, workout and eat healthy. I have always wanted my prayer life to be on fire, I have always wanted to read the bible cover to cover, I want my finances to be streamlined, I desire to give more, to tithe religiously, to read more books and many other goals not written here.

I asked myself, why haven't I been able to accomplish some of these goals, which are obviously attainable. Yes, some of them are not a destination but a work in progress yet still I am not where I should be after a year. So, as I wrote them down I realized I need to do something different this year to be able to look back and not only be grateful but also be proud of myself!

So yes, it is a new year, the goals are old since they have been set over and over again without attainment. You only get to set new goals after achieving the old. This year, I have purposed to do a whole lot of things differently so that I am not at the same place come Christmas season of 2022, I shouldn't be writing down old goals hoping to achieve them again! I have shared my goals with my bestfriend for accountability, I have included timelines, and I am well on my way there. 

I want to challenge you, as we are in the first month of the year, evaluate your goals for the year, are they old or new, what are you going to do differently to get different results? Do you have a community or an individual who can hold you accountable? Have you set clear goals at all? The Bible tells us in Habakkuk 2:2 "“Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it." Write down what you want to achieve this year, not just in your life or your family but in your community as well. Dare to dream and write it down for it to become real to you. In fact, you will not forget it if you need a reminder mid-year. We have to redeem our time as we do not have a lot of it so we cannot afford to waste any of it.

Below I share a little guide to goal setting that I have found helpful and made the process easier, I hope it helps you too;

1. Write down all you want to achieve, don't think too much, just write

2. Separate them into categories (Financial, Family, Spiritual, Work, Business, Personal growth, health etc.)

3. Make your goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time bound). Here is where you do all the thinking, bring in realism and polish your goals.

4. Get an accountability partner. They will be on your case when you slack along the way

5. Pray. Dedicate your plans to God, pray for alignment with God’s will and plan for you for the year. Keep praying about your goals all year long.

I can't emphasize putting a timeline to your goals enough! It will help beat procrastination and get you working. I wish you, and me the best as we set SMART goals for this year. It's going to be a great year!

And as the saying goes, “GO GET THEM”

Susan W. Namutebi