A New You For a New Year

8:23:00 AM


Happy New Year!

It’s that time of the year where we reset our clocks to zero and get ready to start all over again. It revitalizes us and gives us that fresh energy to move forward and to pursue new things.
Well, last year, I had written a post on setting goals for the year 2013. And while I had only a few goals, let me say this sheepishly: I failed to complete all of them.




Let me review my last year’s goals:
Finish reading the bible: Finished only 50%.
Read 24 books: Read only 12 books.
Write 24 blog posts: Wrote only 8.
Train 3 leaders: Trained around 2.

Of course the first thing I did was to sit down and evaluate as to why I failed. There were things that came up unexpectedly last year and I can say it hindered me a bit. But I can’t say that was the only reason.

Former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers, Michael Hyatt on his blog writes about 10 reasons to why goals normally fail. Certain points on that list were applicable to me.  However, after careful evaluation, I realized the actual reason to why I didn't complete my goals.

Bill Hybels said, “My schedule is far less about what I've to get done and much more about who I want to become.”

The one reason I failed was because I wasn't clear with what I wanted to achieve. In other words, I didn't really have a clear vision to see what I wanted to become. Yes, I had goals in place but what was I really trying to achieve as a result of completing them?

If we were to run down history, we know the kind of people we were at one point of time. Ten years ago, we were different from what we are today. We've become who we are today as a result of what we've done or been through in the past. Some were intentional while some unexpected. We improved in those areas we were intentional about.

Becoming a better person requires us to be intentional in doing the things that make us better.



If I want to be a better husband, then I have to be intentional in doing things that make me a better husband. If I want to be a better father, then I have to be intentional in doing things that make me a better father.

So in order to become better at the end of this year, I believe we need to ask ourselves two questions:
1.      Who do I want to become?
2.      What should I be doing to become that?

Who do I want to become at the end of 2014? When we begin to answer that question, setting goals and achieving them becomes a process of becoming that someone.

So this year, these are the few things that I want to be by the end of this year:

·       1.      I want to be a Good Husband

In my last post, on being a Santa to my child, one of the points I mentioned was to love my wife in front of my children. With our baby coming in, I know finding time to spend alone with Anu will probably 
be the most challenging this coming year. And I want to be able to 
commit myself to spend at least one day in the week with her 
alone.

These are certain books that I want to complete and apply by the end
of this year to know how to become a good husband with our baby around:


2.      I want to be a Good Father

Most of you know that we’re looking forward to hold our baby by the end of this month. And this being our first child, we have no idea of parenting at all whatsoever. So I definitely do not want to go into being a father without having any knowledge about it at all. So I am committing myself to read and apply the following books into my life by the end of this year:




All the books that I have mentioned are the books that I have right now and therefore I am committing to read them. I a, also committing myself to collect more books, audio and video in regard to parenting. So watch out; that list might actually get bigger!

3.      I want to be a disciplined writer

The famous novelist John Grisham was a lawyer by profession. He challenged himself to come one hour early to the law firm he was working in to write one page of  a novel everyday, five days a week. And overtime he's become one of the most prolific and appreciated novelists of our day.
I want to become a disciplined writer. While this seems very similar to last year’s writing out 24 blog posts, I plan to do it a little differently this year. I am committing to write half an hour a day. So let’s see how many comes up this year!

4.    I want to be a disciplined Christ Follower

This is a matter of personal faith. Last year, I tried to complete reading the bible in one year. But this year, I want to commit myself to reading and applying at least 3 chapters a day. Someone said that if you read 3 chapters a day, you can actually complete reading the whole bible in one year. I am also committing to spend time in prayer for one hour a day.



So what are you planning this year? Who do you want to become at the end of this year and what are the steps you are taking to become that someone?










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10 comments

  1. Those are fantastic goals. I am sure that you will strive hard towards them as you are consciously going to work to make them happen. I think goal setting helps in making us consciously strive towards something. Of course, a disciplined change in lifestyle and approach is very important. As far as my goals are concerned, I have a few, but I prefer to talk about them after I have reached somewhere :).

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Rachna and great to see you here!
      Yes, goal setting helps us to strive towards something and it brings in more discipline into our daily lives.
      Even I used to talk about goals only after reaching somewhere but I realized talking about them before hand actually makes one accountable! ;)

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  2. i read this now at a moment when i was really pissed off about some personal issues and thinking of ways for vengeance for something... it literally calmed me down and made me evaluate. I cant change what people do to me or how they harm me... but i also should know better than to descend to their level. I should aim to succeed in my own goals in life rather than focus on revenge or stuff that just increases my own negativity..

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    Replies
    1. Hey Radha!
      Getting back is never an answer to anything. And yes, over a period of time if we don't choose to let go we end up becoming something we never intended or wanted to become.
      Moving on is never easy but when we choose to do so intentionally, we get to pursue goals that are life giving and hence leave back no regrets!

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  3. Never mind about last year. And congrats in advance for the baby and good luck on all the fronts. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey Thanks Saru! Great to see you here!
      Yes, sir! Looking forward!! ;)

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  4. I like the clarity with which you have analysed your situation and your action plans to do achieve your goals in 2014. All the very best for that and wishing you both the very best as you await the arrival of your bundle of joy! :)
    Cheers :)

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  5. Oh, you mentioned month end, so the baby has already joined you!!! Congratulations!!

    PS : You must do away with the word verification. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey Shilpa! Nice to see you here!
      Thanks for the wishes! The baby's not here yet! We're still waiting!
      Will be putting up a new comments section soon!

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