New Year Goals

Before the start of every year, I take time to reflect on the past year and make a list of goals for the next. Some of my goals are very specific - either I achieve them or I don't. Others are not so clear cut and reflect areas in which I want to grow. These are the goals I tend to write again year after year (rewriting them a little each time) because I'll never really "arrive" until I reach the end of my life. It can be humbling as I see goals that were full of good intentions, but busyness or life's circumstances caused them to fall by the wayside. On the other hand, it is so encouraging when I see the goals I did achieve or areas in my life where I've come so far. This practice keeps me from getting stuck. It helps me live with purpose amidst all the surprises or hardships a year may bring. And as I review my list from time to time, I'm able to bring some focus to my messy life.

So here it goes...

I'm very good at staying busy and doing a lot of things. I'm very good at pushing myself beyond my limits and working under pressure. I am driven and I don't make excuses. I am efficient and productive. I make things happen. But at the end of this year, I have come to realize that I'm tired of just being busy. I want more. So for the first time in my life, I have a theme for the year: Do less to accomplish more. 

1. Spend extravagant time with God everyday.

2. Dig deep into the Word of God. For most people (and certainly for me in years past), this means reading through the entire Bible in a year. But over the next two years, I plan on reading the Bible slowly, smaller portions each day, so that I can meditate on it more.

3. Seek more opportunities to be light in a dark world.

4. Pursue opportunities to intentionally love well. Also, have coffee/tea/lunch with people more.

5. Spend less time on my iPhone or watching television.

6. Read less books...and read bigger books!

7. Learn a concerto and add two major works to my solo piano repertoire. (This is a big deal when you're battling lupus.)

8. Get every room in the house organized and functional.

9. Buy less and live more generously.

10. Blog at least two times per month...even when especially when I'm not feeling well. (This past year, my goal was to blog at least once a month.)

11. Launch something big. (I know this is vague. But in my journal, what I have written here is very specific. I'm just not ready to, well, launch it yet.)

12. Study Japanese.

13. Learn Latin.

14. Do yoga every week. (In past years, I wrote, "Hike every week," or "Exercise regularly." This past year, lupus really took its toll and this is the one physical activity I think I can commit to even when I'm having a flare.)

15. Learn songs on the ukelele.