How to Finish Your Year Strongly

No matter how your year has gone so far, you can finish it strongly - a few weeks can make things look very different to how they look right now! Nearing the end of a year can bring mixed feelings depending on how we think our year has been... disappointment and shame if we’ve not achieved what we wanted to… relief if it’s been a hard year… joy and satisfaction if we’ve accomplished some or all of what we’ve set out to do… or a mixture of all three. Whatever we are feeling, let’s remember that the year is not over yet, and we can finish it strongly - hand in hand with the God who can do more in a few weeks than we've seen in the whole year!

Get Some Perspective

Human beings have a tendency to be their own worst critics. As the year nears its end, stop criticising yourself for what you haven’t accomplished, and instead step into gratitude. Gratitude has an amazing way of turning around your perspective so that you see everything differently, and it will enable you to recognise the many good things that have come out of this year. We have a different spirit inside of us, so let’s not be the ‘glass half empty’ people, making our disappointments the focus of our year’s review. Let’s see the richness of our year for what it has really been. To see the people we’ve met… the relationships we’ve cultivated… the wisdom we’ve learned… the seeds we’ve sown… the special moments we’ve enjoyed… the steps we’ve taken… and the blessings we’ve received. Let’s remember the surprising gifts the Lord had hidden along the way for us, or the various channels He used to bring joy, blessing and provision to our lives. Let’s be grateful for the encounters we’ve had with Him, the words He has spoken over our lives, and the things we stepped into that once upon a time we never thought we could do, yet He’d grown us to be able to do them. Let’s let gratitude paint the picture of what this year has been for us, so we will see it in truth and walk in the joy that will give strength to us to make the most of the remainder of this year and enjoy the fullness of the coming one.

Give Yourself Grace (Not Excuses)

If, while looking back over your year, you haven’t accomplished something you wanted to, give yourself grace – but not excuses! It’s good to understand why we didn’t accomplish something, but there's no advantage in condemning ourselves over it or focusing our attention on it. Instead, focus on the empowerment of the Lord (His grace) to successfully complete what is in our hearts to do. We can all sit there and give ourselves very convincing stories about why we didn’t do what we wanted to. Focussing on that will only bring justification and permission to do it again. We might have had a genuine reason preventing our action… or we might have deep down allowed fear or laziness to rob us of what we might have walked in. If we just didn’t attempt to begin the journey, we need to take responsibility for that, and determine in our hearts that we will instead function differently.

If we’ve not done something we wanted to for a whole year (or for years on end), there might be something we’re believing in our hearts that has limited us (ie we’re not capable, qualified or worthy). If so, let’s deal with these lies in the remainder of this year, because by putting off lies and putting on truth, we’ll be ready to move forward in the coming year. In fact, this is probably the most powerful thing you can do...

Get on the Journey

It’s virtually impossible move forward in the midst of disappointment and discouragement, so focusing on any disappointment you might be feeling for things you didn't accomplish, will only hinder you. Instead, the better strategy is shift your perspective from ‘Completion’ to ‘On the Journey’. Often we can be unrealistic about the timeframes required to achieve our intentions. And while it’s good to have an idea in our hearts about when we want to see our goals completed, the most important thing is to be on the journey. You see, if we’re on the journey, we’re on the way. But if we have said that we want to do something, and yet nothing in our lifestyle has changed to reflect the reality of this intention, we are really fooling ourselves.

If we’ve set a goal to get fit and lose weight and haven’t achieved it, then we’re not going to drop two dress sizes in the next few weeks. But what we can do is get on the journey. Not just start (which is taking one or two steps), but get on the journey (which is adjusting our lifestyle in an ongoing way). What would the lifestyle of a person who was fit and healthy look like? It would include time for movement, and healthy meal planning and preparation. Don’t use Christmas as an excuse – it’s only a day, and Boxing Day is only one more. Celebrate on those days and eat what you want, but don't use them as an excuse not to get on the journey of wellness now. Come the 31st of December, you will feel satisfied that you’re on the journey, you’re already set up for the new year instead of procrastinating longer, and you will have an excitement in your heart, knowing that the completion of your goals will come as you continue on the journey.

I've experienced this with my blogging over the past year. While I’ve taken some steps by learning and reading about it, and writing some posts, it’s essentially still been something I’ve carried throughout this year more so in dream form than in reality. So the Lord has challenged me with this: Instead of embracing disappointment because there hasn’t been completion, to focus on getting on the journey before the year is out. So I have decided that in the remaining part of this year, I am fully on the journey – writing each day and posting regularly. Developing a habit which I will continue into the new year and which will set me up to achieve what is in my heart for the coming year. In this challenge by the Lord, I’ve realised this: We actually still have time to develop a powerful habit before the year is out! Studies show that it takes 21 days to form a new habit – and we still have that much left of this year! So what would be the most powerful habit you could develop in the remainder of this year? And what would be the most impactful journey you could start on? Begin today…

Focus and Surprise Yourself

What can you still complete or get on the journey for, in the remainder of this year? You won’t be able to do everything at this late stage, so choose the one thing that will make the most impact to your heart and your life, and focus, focus, focus. You may well be surprised at what God can do through you in a two or three week period, if you apply laser-like focus to it. Many people find they can actually accomplish more in two weeks of laser like focus, than they could in two months of scattered effort. Go on, surprise yourself!

Take Time to Refresh and Redirect for the Coming Year

And the best way to finish the year strongly is to give yourself some time to refresh for the coming one – to rest and to re-set. You can be so much more effective if you know where you’re going from the outset. To enter into a new year weary from the last, or without direction, are both two extremes that will rob from you for the next year if you don’t make choices to counter them.

Give yourself some time off – enough so that you can feel rested and excited about another year again, with the energy to tackle the tasks and goals of that year. For some people, that might be a day – for others who have exhausted themselves over the last year, this might be a week or longer. Give yourself what YOU need to recharge. Also give yourself time to spend with Holy Spirit, who can show you what HIS plans are for you in the coming year. There’s nothing more exhausting than setting ourselves to achieve something we weren’t even called to do! Make sure that when we redirect for the coming year, we’re being directed by Him and not just our own ‘good’ ideas. A great option for you to recharge and re-set might be to join us on an Unlocked Coaching Retreat, where you can get away to get a new perspective - heaven's storyline for your life!

We can certainly finish this year strongly, and go into the next year set up, focussed and already on the journey. Decide today that you’ll use the next few weeks wisely, and you may well be amazed at just how you feel by the time 31 December arrives…

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So today you get to choose to finish this year strongly... or just float (or survive) to the end.

To make the most of your experience with this blog post, please download our 'Advance Your Life' Progress Sheet, to invite Holy Spirit to help you take what you've discovered in this blog, and apply it to your life to make permanent changes.

Be blessed as you journey with Him, into the wide-open, spacious life you were created for.