2020 Goals
Savvy Saturdays - 1/25/20
2020 Goals
With every new year, there is a general notion of creating new year's resolutions. I personally do not like to set new year's resolutions because:
There is a negative connotation toward resolutions never being fulfilled
I don't believe one needs a "new year" to motivate oneself to change.
That aside, a new year and a new decade is still a wonderful opportunity to attempt new aspirations. With that, here are some big goals I'm setting out to do:
Read 12 books - 1 book a month
Write 12 blog posts - 1 blog post a month
Attempt 4 startups or side hustles this year
Speak at 2 mid-sized/large events this year
Learn to say no to things (because I say yes too much)
Solidify 5-year & 10-year vision for 2020-2030
I don't expect to achieve all these goals. In fact, I'll be glad if I can achieve 2 or 3 of them completely. Hopefully, as time goes on though, I will be able to check off some of these things and share reflections of what I've learned through them all.
With that, what things do you want to aspire to achieve this year? What ways do you think you can improve yourself? Feel free to reply! I would love to hear from y'all what you hope to achieve, not only as an update, but also for personal accountability and reflection.
And once again, I firmly believe that each of us is on a personal journey, with our own pace and style of how we go about challenging and growing. So the reason I share this is to give insight into how I go about developing myself, and through it, I hope y'all will do the same in y'alls own unique way. (Kind of like faith)
One Desire Fast 2020
Speaking of faith, my church is doing our annual fast in order to challenge to grow more in our faith and dependence in God!
For two weeks, we commit to fasting in order to surrender the things that we enjoy and take for granted daily and intentionally recognize our need for Jesus is greater than our need for the things of this world.
The plan is simple:
Week 1 will be social media and meat fast.
Week 2 will be social media and either one meal a day (no meat still) or liquids only.
Personally for me, I do not enjoy fasting (surprise). In fact, I wrestle a lot whenever food or social media is not within my grasp. The stomach pains and the withdrawals of flickering notifications deeply affect my mood and vibe for the week, and I know it will be tough physically, mentally, and spiritually to be present in the daily tasks I have to do.
But every One Desire Fast, God always teaches me greater reliance, or takes me to school, humbling me whilst I'm helpless.
And I know especially for this new season where I'm starting my first full-time job and trying to achieve a lot of different goals, I believe this fast will help me in my theme this year of Focus and Rest.
Focusing not on accomplishing what I want to do, or doing good work, but on choosing Christ first.
And Resting in God's Word, in prayer, and in my personal relationship with Him.
It'll be hard, but all good things take effort, and I believe the planting of these seeds in fasting and desiring to worship will bear fruit in the seasons to come.
I'll update y'all on it in a week!
Past Blog Posts:
One Desire Fast 2018
"... everything really points to one hope I have during the One Desire Fast. That God becomes my One Desire. Not only during this fast, or for this year, but in every single moment of my life.
I want to trust in Him for what He has in store in this time:
What He will show or do. How He will use and grow me. Where He will lead.
And in the end, as long as I seek Him out and make Him my One Desire, even if I have to walk through dark valleys or climb up steep mountains, I know He will provide. He has amazing plans, and I will trust in Him in it."
Weekly Collections
Faith
The Happiest People Are Those Who Realized That God Is Enough - Thoughtcatalog
Entrepreneurship
7 Harsh Truths That Will Improve Your Leadership Skills Overnight - Pocket
"The brutal truth that leadership, in the end, is really about love."
Productivity
How to Make Hard Life Decisions - Pocket
3 Tricks to Start Working Despite-Not Feeling Like It - Deprocrastination Blog
"Every small win is motivating. Every small win builds momentum. Momentum energizes."
Why Procrastination is About Managing Emotions Not Time - BBC
"Procrastination – while effectively distracting in the short-term – can lead to guilt, which ultimately compounds the initial stress"
Rethinking Discipline - Pocket
Challenging Quote
"It makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself.
He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together.
When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure.
When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash.
So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Life Together"
Verse of the Week
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men [and women], be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
- 1 Corinthians 16:13-14