What is it about a new year that inspires us? The calendar page on a year doesn’t have to flip to start a diet or pull out a blank sheet of paper. Or to change the sheets (goodness knows I hope you change them more than once a year). And, especially for a writer, any given day can bring countless opportunities to stare at the blinking cursor on a blank screen.
So if we can have all of those things any given day, what’s so special about a new year?
[tweetthis display_mode=”box”]The new year is the one time we can have all the things & all the things new.[/tweetthis]
The new year is the one time we can have all the things and all the things news. It gives us a firm date for starting fresh. And, even more, it brings with the ability to have 365 days of new routines, new adventures and just everything new.
New Year’s Resolutions are great. But we all know the gym we can’t park at in January will be full of empty spots by mid-February.
I love the idea of resolutions, but I believe goal-setting is where the real strength to make a new year can be found. Author, leadership expert and entrepreneur extraordinaire Michael Hyatt is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to goal setting. He suggests setting no more than to 5 to 7 goals in order to remain productive.
It can be a bit demotivating to start a day with five new goals. But freedom can be found when you can start a whole year, with 12 full months, to delve into several new goals at once.
Even though it’s the second week of January, there’s still plenty of time to journey through 2017 with intention. Take a few hours or half a day to think through what you would like to accomplish in 11 and a half months, 50 weeks, more than 330 days.
Be grateful that every day is a fresh start. The Lord shows us His bountiful grace and love in His renewed mercies every day (Lamentations 3:23). You can always start something or start over tomorrow.
But remember that the Lord doesn’t just make His mercies new. Revelations 21:5 tells us that He makes all things new.
It’s a new year. You’ve got more than a clean sheet, you have a full book of blank pages. An entire clean slate to draw, write and impress upon with all the things…and all things new.
Write It Out: What areas are you most excited about getting a fresh start with? What are your “things” that get to be new in 2017?