At the end of each year and the beginning of the next, I prayerfully try to discern my Word of the Year. This year, my word is “focus”, chosen to help me counteract my tendency to so often set out with grand intentions and then easily get distracted, or bogged down with procrastination. This word enables me to consider a range of things that will help me achieve both personal & business goals in 2025, and January has been all about my focus on planning & mapping intentions, breaking them down into small actionable steps so that they have a hope of being achieved!
No matter how much planning we do, whatever fancy scheduling tool we subscribe too, however much we dream, write down, organise, prepare, or project results, unless we actually start our intentional journey, we will never achieve our goal or desired destination. Whether that be yearly goals or a geographical route, sooner or later we must gradually make progress step by slow step. It is worth noting that the word goals begins with GO. This reminds me that to accomplish goals, we must go… and as Christians… go with God.
When I finally step out, whichever path I choose, will be the one where God is with me. If it is the wrong one, then there will be ways of changing direction along the way; dead ends, shortcuts to other paths; places on my journey where other paths intersect. It is more important that I step out, in faith, trusting God as the compass of my life, checking in with Him throughout my journeying that I am still travelling North.
There will undoubtedly be difficulties; virtual streams to navigate, hills to climb, rivers to cross, forests to explore and plenty of rough, stony ground along the way but whatever the terrain, I know I can trust that Jesus has trodden the path before me…“Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” Proverbs 4:25
