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New Rules, New Resolutions...

So, it's the first Monday of the new year---that's either a double-edged sword, or a double-whammy, depending on how you are looking at 2015, this moment. Whether you bounced into the office bright and early this morning, water bottle in hand, in total denial of the fatigue that's already beginning to set from your first workout (note: there you have it--three new year's resolutions, already!) ... OR
you shuffled in, a little late, sporting the ever-faithful-fallback pony-tail, black pants and whatever random semi-comfy shirt was doomed to help you meet the minimum standard for professional office attire....oh, and carrying a box of doughnuts, because, as the Whataburger commercial so eloquently declares, "you're not the one that's late for work, you're the one who brought breakfast!"

I think I'm somewhere in-between the two scenarios.  I know it's not just the girls suffering from the syndrome--I just left a meeting with a couple of guys who were doing the Daniel fast. Two hours into the fast, their inner child is squalling like a toddler at Walmart for MEAT!!!

Let's face it -- we often fail at these things because they are easy fails. We set ourselves up for failure with unreasonable expectations, ridiculous conditions, impossible deadlines...when our lives are already barely under control.  It's like yanking your pre-schooler from his tricycle and plopping him down on a Harley -- C'mon, let's go for it, we can do this! it's not that much harder, is it?  C'mon is right.

One of the things successful people have mastered is the art of goal-setting (and keeping, obviously). Why is that? They don't have superhuman strength, x-ray vision, clairvoyance, or any such thing to make it happen. They are just SMART about the goals they set. Yes, they call them SMART goals.
We are going to talk about this--and work through it, all month, so tune in--and tell your friends to tune in and follow, too.

SMART goals are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused and Time-bound.
They are also scriptural, so we are going to explore that too-- it takes to a whole new level.

2015 can be different, if you start off on the right foot.  Not the foot that overdid the workout this morning, in some form of self-deprecating penance over the ice cream binge you had last night. Those feet are going to get a lot of rest today, because you'll be too sore to get out of your chair by lunchtime. Not the foot that stepped into the office bearing the ever-dreaded-yet-yearned-for doughnuts...no, that foot will be too busy dodging the stampede of staff stumbling past your desk to sneak yet another doughnut, thanking you, politely, with a smile, while cursing you and your offspring, your dog, cat, car, and your bouncy ponytail, from the depths of their cholestrol-clogged hearts....

Prepare for tomorrow's lesson on SPECIFIC goals. Think about what you REALLY want--and need--to accomplish this year. While you're thinking, think about this:


For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever...
--Psalm 21:3-4 (NKJV)

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