The start of the New Year is such a great time form new habits. Habits that will maximize productivity and lead you towards your goals! This is also a great time to break old habits and move past things that have held you back in the past.
It is said the best way to break a habit is to replace it with something. And it is also said that in order to make room for something new, you have to sacrifice something. Why not let these two goals come together in a perfect combination? Create excellent, new habits and replace the not so good with the excellent!
Though the idea is sublime, we’re all human and falter. The important thing is to keep aiming high. As soon as you realize you’re off track, reset your focus and get back on track! As the saying goes, “Perfection is unobtainable. But if we aim for perfection, we will reach excellence.” This is such a good reminder and so encouraging to remember!
New Habits
So what are some good new habits to take into the New Year with us? Here are few I am personally working on. Feel free to steal them or fine tune them to make them your own!
Intentionally focus on what you’re doing.
Be it work, school, parenting, grocery shopping, writing, etc. Whatever it is, focus on it. How many times do we come away from something and feel that it didn’t go as well as it might have. Next time you do, ask yourself if you were fully focused.
If you plan to do school “while” you text a friend, don’t be surprised when you wind up texting and getting little to no school done. A divided mind can not focus well. Jumping from school to texting to school, ooh, to texting again is exhausting for your poor little mind. There is a reason the Bible says we can’t serve two masters. Focus, finish, and move on.
Or perhaps you truly don’t have the opportunity to focus – then be honest with yourself. For instance, I often work in a storefront, but I do a lot of work around that. I send emails, work on websites and pay bills. But when a customer comes in, I switch to giving them my attention. I am selective with which tasks I choose to work on while watching the shop. For instance, I don’t try to write during that time. I don’t have the focus that I have when it’s just me and the words.
Start the day with your largest projects, whenever possible.
This one is huge! But also, understandably, not always an option. But when it is – take advantage of it! Start your day with your largest or most difficult project. You will see the most progress this way.
I find on mornings that I accomplish something significant before I open the shop, the more I get done in the day. But if I do odds and ends and then open the shop and try to work on something significant, I feel like my focus is gone! Perhaps it’s because I’ve spent the morning flitting from this and that – important and necessary things – but I haven’t held my feet to the fire to really accomplish (or at least start) something significant.
And the beauty of being started, even if you don’t have a chance to finish, is that you have started. And this is huge! It’s so much easier to pick something back up rather than start from scratch later in the day.
Just get started!
This one rather goes with the one above – or perhaps it should even be listed before the one above – at any rate, it landed here! Starting is said to be half the battle. And I believe it!
Starting can take such an effort and such commitment and determination! But go for it. Start somewhere. Put that vague idea into words and put it down on paper. Figure steps you can take and then start taking them. Take action!
It is said that it is better to start somewhere, and then course correct along the way rather than wait and wait and wait trying to find the perfect place to begin. Obviously, no matter what you are doing, make sure what you are pursuing is pleasing in God’s sight.
A New You
Now that you have a few ideas, what are some new habits that you are going to adopt? I’d love them if you’d share them with us below or send me an email hope@theamericanlady.com.
Remember to pray as you ponder your new habits. One of my favorite takeaways from last year is that God does not keep His plans for you a mystery from you! But you have to ask, seek and knock in order to find! May God bless you as you pursue His plan for your life!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. If you’re new to The American Lady, be sure to read this too: https://www.theamericanlady.com/2019/12/04/plans-for-2020/