How to Make 2022 Your Best Year Yet [Get Ready to Win!]
Here we are on the brink of 2022. Are you ready? How do you feel about what you accomplished in 2021? Or how about over the past decade, 2012 - 2022? I'll share some of my journey with you throughout this post. But I mostly want to focus on how to make 2022 your best year yet.
How can you make this year better than your last?
Deep down, we all want to make every year count. We want to be the best we possibly can. Many of us do this at the turn of the new year with resolutions and goals. However, very few have ever accomplished these goals. Stuff (Better known as life) always seems to get in the way, doesn't it?I hear a lot of people saying the following throughout the year:"I'm going to start soon...""I've wanted to do that for a long time...""I need to do that...""I know I should be doing this..."Although people have good intentions, it's rare that anyone ever gets started. Instead of being proactive in life, we just react to everything that comes our way. It's time that we start moving forward. It's time that we take action and stop talking about what we're going to do, and actually, start something today. Want to know how to make 2022 your best year yet? Be a person of action! Start taking steps toward the future you want.Many of us probably think back over the last year and even ten years and think about the missed opportunities or the things we didn't do. I urge you to not look back and think this way. There's a quote that I love and regularly recite that I want to share with you:
The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second-best time is today.
Here's the deal, it would have been great to have started pursuing a dream of yours 10 years ago, or even last year, but today is the second-best time! We cannot look back at what should have been, we can only begin to achieve that dream inside of us today.When I had my ah-ha moment after reading that quote years ago, "The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second-best time is today." I finally began to take action in my life. Almost immediately, things changed in my life. I found myself starting to do the things I talked about doing for years. I began to make significant progress in my life. Today, I share these words with everyone I hear talking about wanting to start something soon or that they should have started years ago.
Sadly, many people don't change after I recite this quote to them.
This has always troubled me. For a long time, I'd ask myself, "Don't people want to grow and excel in life?" I've come to discover why people don't change even when confronted. Many people have allowed themselves to become complacent with where they currently are with what they have. If you're comfortable where you are, so why risk messing it up?In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus talks about the parable of the talents. The wicked servant in the parable hid the talent that was given to him by the master because he was afraid that he would not be able to make more out of it. How often do we fall into this same category? We are unwilling to step out in faith and try to do something that we want to do because it may threaten how comfortable we are. So instead, we stay where we are, hiding who we could become just so we do not have to face the risk.Now that we've concluded that the most important thing you can do for yourself in 2022 is become a person of action. Here are five actionable steps you can take to making 2022 a win.
Five ways to make 2022 your best year yet:
#1. Set specific, realistic goals.
Don't make your goals unobtainable. Also, don't set 20 goals for yourself, keep it realistic both in the total number of goals, and in what you want to do. For example, don't say you want to build a multi-million dollar business. Instead, mention a specific company that you want to launch.
#2. Keep a daily calendar.
If you don't control your time, it will control you. My calendar has a minimum of 20 things on it every day. If that sounds crazy or stressful to you, it's because you don't understand the power and freedom that comes with managing your time well. I rarely get stressed, and I rarely miss out on anything that I want to do. All of this is due to my ability to manage my time. Time management begins with putting everything on my calendar.
#3. Create smart habits.
Habits run your life. You either have good habits or bad habits. Good habits include going to the gym, waking up at the same time every day, being productive at work. Bad habits include staying up late, turning on the TV, being lazy. Habits are a big topic, but what matters is being intentional with them. Take inventory of your habits, replace the bad ones with good habits. I highly recommend picking up the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear. (If you don't have time to read a book, use this free app I use called Read It For Me to listen to the quick summary of it.) Remember, it's the small things we do every day that matter and help us grow.
#4. Invest in friendships.
Being on the grind every day can be a lot. Make sure you are slowing down to enjoy life. Invest in the friendships and people that are most important to you. Be intention with them! Don't look back over the years and think about the people you lost contact with just because you were "busy." Be a person who cultivates friendship - Bring people together! This is what gives life meaning.
#5. Keep God first and seek Him continuously.
Above all else, keep God first. If our identity is not in Him and we're not following His lead, it's all for nothing. When you keep God first and follow Him, your path will be guided. You don't want to wake up one day and figure out that you hate the direction your life has gone in. This can be avoided if you live for God and follow Him. If you have one takeaway from this post, let it be this point. God has to be the center of it all!
Ready for your next step? DailyPS has an 8 page eBook on the topic of Making 2022 your best year yet. Visit our resources page to download a free copy.
Today I encourage you to look at your life, see if you have been putting some things off that you know you should do, and start doing them! There is no better time than today. Plant the tree of self-discipline in your life today. Begin to move in the direction that you know you need to go. Allow your comfort in life to be challenged. In the end, you will find that you are a person of action. Always moving toward the future you know you want, one step at a time. This is how to make 2022 your best year yet... Get after it!