36: Start Your Year Right

Do you want to make the most of the upcoming year and start it on the right foot? Maybe you find it challenging to stick to your resolutions and balance real life. In this episode, I share a powerful system to reflect, plan, and reset for the new year. As we embark on this journey of reflection and preparation for the new year, it's essential to approach the upcoming year with intentionality and purpose. By reflecting, planning, and resetting through journaling, prayer, and adopting a guiding word, we can set ourselves up for a year of growth, connection, and fulfillment. 

This episode is for you if you're ready to approach the new year with intention and maximize your potential for growth and success.

In this episode, you will:

1. Be guided on how to reflect on the current year
2. Plan for the upcoming year
3. Select a meaningful one-word theme to live by for the new year

Mentioned Resources

One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon, Jimmy Page and Dan Britton 

Episode 1: Priority Protocol

Episode 2: Build Your Village

Episode 28: Finish Your Year Strong

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

On today's episode, we're going to talk about making the most of your upcoming year and starting your new year right. You know, with the holidays upon us, most of us, young, old, married, single, we tend to start dreaming of the upcoming year and everything it's going to bring. A new year signifies change and a clean slate and hopefully some sense of normalcy. These last few years have been a trip. I mean, a trip without luggage. But many of us, while we want to get a jump start and we want to make the most of the next year, we don't know how. And quite frankly, a lot of us have learned that resolutions just don't work when we're trying to balance our real lives. So I'm going to give you my system that you can use to reflect, plan, and reset for your new year. So join me as we strategize to start your year right. Have you come to the point in your life where doing that work, church, home, repeat just isn't working for you anymore, and you know there's gotta be more to life than this, then girl, you've come to the right place. I'm Kimberly Knight, and this is the Position Podcast. As a certified coach, consultant, author, and speaker, I have the privilege of helping women to position themselves for success in life-loving business. So if you're ready for some wisdom wrapped up in a little bit of girlfriend, join me and other experts each week as we give you the conversation coaching and keys you need to take you to your next steps. Hello and welcome to the Position Podcast. I am your host, Kimberly Knight, and today we are going to talk about how to start your new year right. Now, one thing that's very interesting is that usually when people plan for the new year, they wait until January. And by the time their plan is done, it's mid-January, which means you've already lost a month. So I believe in order to get the most out of the coming year that you plan in the present year. That way, when January 1st hits, you're ready to hit the ground running. So let's talk about how to prepare for your new year so you get the most out of it. Now, we know that a new year signifies change and opportunity, and it is the opportunity for a clean slate, right? But let's be honest, sticking to our resolutions can be challenging, especially as we try to balance real life. So, in order to prepare for the upcoming year, in order to position yourself to make the most out of it, you want to begin to dream now. Start thinking and dreaming about what the upcoming year looks like, what you want it to look like. I want to encourage you to get into a really quiet place, or even better, go away. One of the things that I've always done is like usually in October, I start reviewing the year to date and making a plan to get the most out of the current year. And then around November, I start making my plan for the next year. So what I like to do usually is to go away. I like to get out of my environment. I like to go on radio silence, which means I disconnect. Of course, I tell the people who are important in my life where I am and what I'm doing, but I don't engage in chit-chat or anything like that. I kind of like hunker down because I want to hear from God and I want to get clear thoughts and set a vision. Can't do that with all the ordinary everyday noise. Like even now, I'm sitting here and going, oh my gosh, I've got to clean up my office space. Oh my goodness, I haven't cooked breakfast, I haven't done this, I haven't done that. So, you know, when you're in your regular environment, you may not be as creative or hear as clearly because there's too many distractions going on. So if you can go away for a day or so, if you can't find a quiet place and space where you can think uninterrupted so that you can begin to hear and get downloads for your life. Now, I have to tell you that a lot of us who have a problem hearing God, it's not that he's not speaking. It's not that he's offering us confusing riddles. It's because we haven't positioned ourselves to hear. And we haven't trained ourselves to discern his voice. So if you're having a problem hearing from God, then that is a cue for you to get as quiet as you can so you can discern his voice above the distractions. Now, I have a confession that one of my distractions was uh video games. And I didn't play a lot of them. There were two that I played every single day. And it wasn't that I played them for a long time. Well, okay, sometimes I did. But for the most part, for the most part, I just played, you know, maybe a half hour a day. See, here was the problem for me, and this may not be the case for you. I'm just sharing about one of the distractions that really kept me from deeply tuning in. It was actually training my brain to think in these little sound bites, right? Because this game was very quick. So in a minute or so, I was finished with the game, and I would go on to the next game and the next level and the next level. But it was like almost like sound bites. So I'm literally training my brain not to concentrate for long periods of time. And when father told me to put the game down and to, you know, take it off of my phone, I didn't really know why. I mean, I knew it was a waste of my time, but I didn't have a full understanding of what it was doing. I was just obedient. So I took it off my phone, I stopped playing, and I have to tell you, within a week, my concentration level increased. It increased. And you do know these games are programmed to keep you coming back. Yeah. So no, thank you. Every once in a while, I feel like, oh, I would love to play that game, but I don't want to do that to myself. I love being able to concentrate and focus. But that was for me. You have to discern what it is for you that keeps you so distracted or that causes you to build, even in your physiology, because that was building something in my physiology, right? Something that's building a lack of concentration or distraction into your being. Got to pay attention and pray attention. So when you get still and you get quiet, be intentional about seeking his face and hearing his voice and learn how he speaks to you so you don't miss it. Father doesn't speak to everybody the same way because we're not made the same way. He knows what it takes to get our attention and to be understood by us. So again, if you're having a problem discerning his voice or rightly understanding whether it's his voice, your voice, or the devil, first you need to get quiet and then learn how he speaks to you so you don't miss it. Okay. Second. You're going to start by taking a look back. So you're going to reflect on the present year to date. So whatever day you hear this, you're going to reflect from today back to January 1st. You're going to take a look at all eight core life areas and note any significant events or changes. Those life areas include faith, family, finances, education, recreation, health and wellness, business and career, ministry or community calling. You're also going to look at how you stepped out of your comfort zone or avoided stepping out of your comfort zone this year. Very important because sometimes we're making growth steps and we don't even see it ourselves. And then there are other times when we've been stuck in something or we're afraid to move out of that comfort zone or we don't even realize we're in one. Either way, we need to be aware. And let me say to you, when you're doing these reflections, please write them down because you don't need to hold this in your head. You want to reduce your cognitive load so that you have the margin to hear and dream when we move forward. You also want to look at what do you want to remember about this year and your biggest achievements and challenges and how you handled them. Again, putting this in writing, journaling this. You want to look back at how you saw God move for you this year and what prayers were answered or even remain unanswered this year. I love to look at the best piece of advice I received. That quote or that conversation that really just stuck with you, made you think, changed how you view things. Everybody has had at least one this year. Make sure you go back and record that because this is life wisdom. And here's the thing, ladies, if we don't learn from others, if we don't learn from this girlfriend wisdom that drops into our lives, then we are destined to learn the hard way. Either way, we learn the lesson. So you could do it the hard way or the easy way. So record that really good advice that you got. Record any tips, tools, or hacks that made your life easier this year. Because you want to take that wisdom with you and that knowledge into your future. You don't want to keep reliving the same thing again and again, having to relive that lesson over and over and over again until you're just worn out. But until we get deliberate and intentional about recording it and then reviewing it, we're probably going to live that same lesson again and again. That said, when you're doing this year-to-date review, don't beat yourself up for things that didn't turn out the way you planned. Even if they were your fault, what's done is done. So let's not bog ourselves down in regret or take that forward because it won't serve you. Actually, what regret does is use yesterday to rob you of your today and tomorrow. So if it was already something that didn't turn out the way you planned, let it go. This is your sign to let it go. I have an entire episode about ending your year strong. I am going to leave that and a downloadable resource in the show notes so that you'll be able to listen in and do a fuller overview of your year today and how you can end strong. By the way, November and December are 17% of your year. So even though we're looking forward to starting the year right and getting a clean slate, God can do so much in these next few weeks that it could blow your mind. So don't give up, don't stop working, go back to your injured year strong plan and work it through so you can get the maximum benefit out of the year. While we're taking our look back, we also want to revisit our priority protocol. Anytime you experience a major life shift, you should revisit and redo your priority protocol so that you are discerning and being deliberate about what is important to you in this season. And the new year, by the way, would be considered a major life shift, right? That new year, it represents new things for you. You should redo that priority protocol. And again, you're looking at all eight life areas and determining what's most important to you. This is going to facilitate your decision making, how you spend your energy, time, and money. And it is a very simple but powerful tool to help you bring balance and live into your priorities and values. We're also going to revisit your village. Again, I did an entire episode on this. The link will be in the show notes because it may be time to relocate some of your villagers. The new year is a perfect time to take a look at who's significant in your life. What relationships do you want to focus on? Who in your life can speak into your life? Who knows you, K-N-O-W, and who knows you, N-O, who says, no, that's not best for you. There may be some villagers who were on your main street last year that maybe they don't occupy that space this year. And it's not that the relationship went sour, it's just a shift. But until we look at relationships deliberately, they will always remain a mystery to us. Even those that are good for us in this season, they may not be prime relationships for next season and vice versa. So we want to be intentional. Again, the link to that resource and that episode is in your show notes, so be sure to check that out. You also want to create a prayer plan for next year. Now, this is very powerful. I've always had a prayer list, right? And people ask me to pray for them all the time. I mean, all the time. I don't think two days goes by without someone asking me to pray for them. You want to make a list of prayer points for yourself in all eight areas of your life, right? So I went over those earlier. So create prayer points for your faith, family, your finances, your education and recreation, your uh health and wellness, your business and career, your ministry and community calling. Just go through the goals you've set. Go through the things you want to see happen. And you're going to create a prayer plan. When you get ready to pray, go into your prayer plan. The great thing about a prayer plan is this. You can pray one thing a day. Like let's say you're tapped for time. You can pray just one area a day. You can pray all the areas at one time. Either way, you'll be more consistent because you've planned. It will also be easier to track prayers that are answered and prayers where you may need to put in a little bit more time and energy. Again, I'm going to encourage you to write everything down. You want to be able to refer back to it. You want to be able to pray through it on a consistent basis. And it helps when you can see it in writing. Now, this last tip I have for you, I cannot tell you how powerful it is. I have had my one word for the year for probably about six years. And it's based on the book, One Word That Will Change Your Life by John Gordon, Jimmy Page, and Dan Britton. I'm going to put a link to it in the show notes. It is powerful. Whether you get the actual physical book or the audiobook, it is very powerful and it sounds very simple, but we often get caught up because we want to make the simple complex. And my one word is actually what it sounds like, right? It is foregoing a list of resolutions and choosing just one word to live by for the new year. So, I mean, there's a ton of options on that. I'm getting ahead of myself, but you just get rid of all the resolutions. I'm going to stop smoking, I'm going to lose 20 pounds. I'm going to call my mother every week. You get rid of all of these resolutions that for the most part, by February, we don't even remember what they are. And we get one word that is meaningful and we walk it out. So here's what this would look like. So again, preparing your heart, getting quiet, getting ready to receive from Father. And I do believe God has a word for you. I believe that wholeheartedly, beyond the shadow of a doubt. And remember, he could use anything to communicate with us, right? Sometimes I get my word when I'm just sitting still and I'm deliberately in his presence and I'm asking him what the word is. Sometimes I'll get it that way. Sometimes I'll get it as I go. One year the word was repeated so many times. I was like, oh, is that my word? Is that my word for the year? Literally, I was hearing the same word, and it wasn't a common word, right? I was hearing the same word five, six, seven times a day for well over a week. And I was like, hmm. So you have to understand how God communicates with you. He communicates with me through patterns and repetition. I know that. You need to know how he communicates with you. You can simply sit there in the stillness and in the quiet and ask him, what do you want in me and through me? And write anything down. If he gives you downloads of paragraphs, write it down. If he gives you that one word right away, write it down. Whatever you get in your spirit, you want to write it down. You want to be listen and be open for anything else he shares, because sometimes I get my one word and he has other things he wants me to know too. So be still, know he's God. Hallelujah. Now, oh, and by the way, like I said, sometimes I get my word right then and there. Sometimes it may be a day or a week later. So if you're not getting it right away, just rest, relax. He will bring it to you if you trust him with it. Once you discover your word, write it down. And I will tell you, if you don't write it down, you will forget it. You will forget it. So journal it. Look at how you can live that word out over the course of the year. Make sure to keep it front and center so it doesn't just become like a New Year's exercise and it becomes just as useless as a resolution, right? It's very simple, but it's very powerful if you do it with intention. You also want to go to the dictionary and look up its meaning, right? Most words have several meanings. So this word may take on different manifestations in your life over the course of the year. It may look and present differently over the course of the year. You also want to go into the strong's concordance and look up that word in the strong and see what it meant in the Hebrew or in the Greek. It will add a lot of understanding. I am telling you, it will add a depth of understanding. And again, go back, journal that, and see how you can live that out or how he is telling you things that connect to this word. You also want to look up scriptures that correspond to your word and write them down in your journal as well. Pray them through, memorize them. You may want to pick out a theme scripture that goes along with that word that is going to be your theme for the year. Or you can use all of them, right? The word works. Hallelujah. You also want to keep your eyes open for opportunities with your word. Now I'll give you an example. One year my word was now, N-O-W, Now. And I said, okay. And the way I felt when I got the word was that he wanted me to get things done now. I had been dealing with a lot of procrastination. So for me, it meant he wanted me to conquer procrastination. So whenever something dropped into my mind to get it done, I got it done right away. Now, right now. That was my motto. Now, right now. Also, I came to understand during the course of the year that now meant there were things that were coming into my life or that he had said were for a later time. And the season had come into, like, you know, what does the word say? At the appointed time. It was now, it was the appointed time. And I needed to move on those things he had told me to wait on. There were two different ways that that now presented itself in that year. They were both for me. And I really got a lot out of that year and made a lot of progress. Also was able to get a real handle on procrastination. Now, oh, no pun intended. Now, when I see the pattern of procrastination, I can nip it in the bud because I understood I spent a whole year working that out. So when I see it now, when I see now, now, I know to do something and move on it with a quickness. I also want you to post your word in prominent areas, in places in your home, in your car, on your desk. I would love for you to make it your screensaver for a while because the more you're reminded of it, the more likely you are to pray into it and pay attention to how you can walk that out with intentionality and partner with Father to get the most out of this next year. Finally, please, I said it a few times and I'm going to say it again because journaling is going to make a big difference with you this year. Journal how the Lord orders your steps with that word so that when you're doing the look back at the end of next year for the following year, and I ask you questions like, How did God show up for you this year? What did he do for you? What prayers did he answer? You'll be able to go back and look at his handiwork. And I guarantee if you do this with me every November, you will have so much to be thankful for that you won't wait until Thanksgiving to give thanks. I guarantee that you are going to make so much progress because of this process of starting your year right, including the one word, you are going to write me by this time next year and tell me it was one of the best decisions you ever made. That's a guarantee. Okay, so I've shared with you some tips I have for starting the new year right and for, you know, getting everything in order so that you can get ahead of the game in January. Thanks for joining me on this journey of reflection and preparation for the new year. If you want more resources or information on any of the topics I discussed today or any of the downloads that I said were available to you or any of the episodes that I mentioned, check out the show notes for the links. I'm looking forward to hearing about your journey. So please stay in touch and share this with a friend. Until next time, be wonderfully blessed. Bye now. That's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you're listening so you never miss one. I would love it if you would share the podcast with your friends, post about it on Facebook and Instagram, or leave a review. That way you can help me to bring you more great content and expert guests. Until next week, be blessed.