Renew your hope, your Faith and the illumination of your path in this new year that is approaching.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31
Thinking Positive. By maintaining a positive attitude about what it means to set our goals for the coming year, we will see how we are drawn to what occupies our thoughts. Therefore, instead of thinking about what we don't want, it is more helpful to think about what we want and set our goals for this year accordingly, confident that the Lord will guide our thoughts to Him .
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
The goal under control. Our goal has to depend on ourselves, and not on others. When we define goals and plans for this year that depend on others, we are putting it out of our control whether or not they are met. Let's remember then that the only one who has control over all that is God. However, what we can do is keep our eyes and prayers directed to the fulfillment of that goal, sheltered in the goodness of Christ .
“He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.” Deuteronomy 7:13
The focus on that and nothing else. An ambiguous goal will give us ambiguous results. If our objective is as generic as it is comprehensive, we will not be clear if we are achieving it or not. If we work on concrete goals, we will obtain concrete results. An outside observer should be able to verify without question whether we have achieved our goal or whether it is not yet complete.
“Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalms 31:23-24
The bite according to the size of our mouth. Projects that are too ambitious are easy to abandon, that is why we have to cover things that we see are within our reach. Likewise, projects that are too easy do not mean leaving us out of our comfort zone, they do not bring us tangible progress and they place us far from Christ.
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy made us be reborn for a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3
Motivating Objective. Setting many goals just for having many things to do will only serve to have a long string of abandoned goals along the way. If the goals are not really focused on achieving something we are really passionate about, we will quickly lose interest.
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
Resources needed. Resources are what we need to achieve our goal. These are what we are most interested in from the point of view of the children of God. They are the states that we will have to strengthen to achieve our objectives.
“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Colossians 3:9-10
Review. It is important to return to our objectives once the time has passed, in this way we will be reviewing them in order to establish the progress made and make the necessary adjustments. From time to time depending on the objective -and better if it is not from year to year-, it is prudent to ask ourselves: If we continue to desire that objective; if we are succeeding, and if we are not, what does God need us to change.