Finish Well

The end of the year is quickly approaching, less than 2 months left!  This is my favorite time of the year. I love October, November and December. I love the cooler weather, golden candlelight, decorations and family gatherings. I also love looking forward to the new year- thinking about goals, a fresh start and a clean slate.

And, right in between my favorite time of year and January 1st, it kind of feels like a free fall. I’m no longer thinking about goals that I had for this year. It doesn’t feel good to think about what I failed at, what didn’t get done, why some things didn’t work out, or prayers that have remained unanswered.  But, before I dive into goal setting for the new year, or before I act like these last 2 months don’t really count, maybe it is worth my time to consider today.

What were your goals in 2019?
Consider your goals for 2019. What were they? Lose weight? Save money?  You may not be able to reach your goal by the end of the year, but you can do something. Give yourself a few actionable steps that you can still take. Practice finishing well. Today does matter. These last 2 months do matter.  If we always push off until tomorrow, Monday or January 1st, the things we want to do and then we never do them, we are practicing procrastination and failure.  At this point of the year it’s less about the actual goal and more about training yourself to finish well. To do what you told yourself you would do.

What can you do today?
Who can you serve today? What one step can you take, today? Set yourself up now for the goals you will tackle in 2020 and you do that by taking steps on what you need to do in 2019.  I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn about goal setting is training ourselves out of the idea of starting tomorrow. We have been given today, as a gift.  There is no magic in January 1st- start today.

Teach yourself the art of finishing well.