A new year marks a fresh opportunity to center our lives around the goodness of God. As you begin looking toward what is to come, I pray that you will make space to gain God’s perspective, ground your hopes and pursuits on His grace, and celebrate all that God has done and is doing.
Each year, we reflect on the years that passed and then consider the new year ahead. We have done so much in our lives, had so many experiences, and often arrive at a point we ask ourselves: What’s next for me?
With each year, we can count on change; we can count on new experiences. With each year, we can count on continuing our quest for the pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.
The pursuit of happiness and fulfillment drives us to enhance the quality of our lives year after year. When a major shift happens in our lives, we must control whom we will become or risk never reaching our potential.
I have reinvented myself several times in my life. Each time I have done it, I have forged my new path deliberately and with foresight. When you wait for the future to find you, you will wait in vain; you will be lost in confusion and frustration.
Take the opportunity of a new year to make new beginnings and to get yourself back on track. Sit quietly, close your eyes, and imagine the people, places, or situations you must leave behind
Have you lost track of your long-term goals and dreams in the everyday running around?
Are you thinking of starting your own business or switching careers? There is no better time than now to do so.
Take the opportunity of a new year to make new beginnings and to get yourself back on track. Sit quietly, close your eyes, and imagine the people, places, or situations you must leave behind. Imagine the future you want and how you will feel in that new place. Stand for a moment and silently voice your appreciation to God for everything that came before now.
Once you have given thanks with compassion and gratitude, imagine yourself walking away from the past and into the future. Write about your reinvention. Imagine a scene from it or write about how you had liked it to play out. Continue writing for as long as this exercise feels exciting. Write scenes, dialogues, lists, and plans.
Make the future come alive. Write about how it will feel to be there. Keep your writing somewhere where you will look at it occasionally. Feel free to add to it. Surround yourself with visual reminders of the life you like to create. If it is a new job in a field, put images from that field somewhere you will see them every day. If it is a home, find a picture of a house you love and put it near your front door. It can be anything that reminds you of the life you’re moving towards.
Now that you have a vision of your future break it up into workable tasks. What do you need to do every day to create that vision? Start a business? Search for a place to live. Make it specific. Make a list of everything you need to do and a schedule for when you will do it. Do it and commit to keep doing it, one day at a time.
Every morning and evening, close your eyes and see yourself walking toward your future. Always reconnect with why you’re moving toward this new possibility. Reinvention is neither easy nor consistently smooth. Often, we encounter resistance. We don’t want to let go of things that cause us pain or are already out of our grasp. We often struggle with limiting beliefs or stories about ourselves that keep us from trying new things.
Always keep your compass pointed to the new life, even amid any resistance or struggles you encounter on the way. Each time you find yourself slipping into old habits, making excuses, and procrastinating on a task that might help you advance. Don’t bother wondering what is wrong with you or beating yourself up. Just ask yourself this: “What can I do at this moment to keep moving forward?” No matter what you feel in the moment, fear, self-critical, tiredness, laziness, or disappointment. Do something courageous to maintain the momentum, even if it’s one small thing at a time. Remember that real courage isn’t about not feeling fear; it’s about feeling fear and acting anyway. Choose courage instead of letting your fear choose your future for you.
Read also: Uplifting your leadership in 2023
Are you serious about transformation?
I’m not talking about improving yourself or making things a bit better. I’m talking about the reset button, a reinvention that changes the game. That means an overhaul in what you believe and how you do your things generally. The key to reinvention of who you are is to become someone you have never been before. Become someone with the rare skill of getting things done, making things happen, and creating outcomes that people seek.
To reinvent yourself, relish the idea of growth through failure. You must be willing to fail with grace. School isn’t over; school continues with life experiments and experiences and the constant disappointment of trying and learning. Read something that challenges you to think differently. Discard what you think you know and instead learn what you need to learn every day. When you become the person in your vision, you will attract all else in the vision like a magnet.
Welcome to a new year and a new beginning.
