THE FIRST WORDS FOR 2018-Part 2
For many 2017 was a season of training. For others, it was a season of discovery; yet for other people it was a season of growth, new ventures, and fresh new encounters.
Here’s a list of a few things you need to do to start the year on the right foot from part one of this Blog entitled The First Words for 2018.
Revise
Change
Try again
Look ahead
Prepare
Invest
Be courageous to stay the course to win the race.
As mentioned earlier, I addressed the first four in part one. To conclude I will address the final three.
5. Prepare:
Every day of any year, we get up and prepare to confront a new day. It does not matter what you do. Whether you are employed or unemployed. Active or retired it doesn’t matter. You begin the day by going to the bathroom and do your daily routine of brushing your teeth or just rinsing your mouth, washing your face, maybe shave or if you’re a lady do your hair and makeup. Granted some people don’t even do that, but my point is; every day we do something to begin a new day. It’s sort of second nature.
Consciously or unconsciously, we always do something. If we do this at the beginning of every day, wouldn’t it be normal to do the same at the beginning of a new year? Preparation is fundamental for execution. If you fail to prepare, you are unconsciously preparing to fail.
Children in school are assigned homework just to get them in the groove of being disciplined and being prepared for the next day of school. It’s a simple task but discipline helps you keep your eyes on the importance of time, responsibility, effort, accomplishing goals, and meeting the demands on your inner person to become that which God has designed you to become. Do not make the mistake of ignoring the important step of preparation.
Have you heard the proverb, “The early bird catches the worm?” It’s true. When you take the necessary steps to be prepared to confront the challenges of a new year, you have a better percentage rate to overcome the many challenges awaiting you along the road of this race called life.
6. Invest:
(Merriam-Webster) from Old Italian investire, from Latin, to surround]: to surround with troops or ships so as to prevent escape or entry.
Isn’t this an interesting definition for this verb? This definition implies the idea of the importance of the act of investing. It means to protect what you have, or protect it so it doesn’t escape.
Growing up I learned from an Italian gentleman who taught me the business of Real Estate, that a 20% return on your money, was a good investment. You invest with the purpose of obtaining a profit. Look at it this way, a day has 24 hours. You want to invest your time in those 24 hours, so you can have at least a 20% profit of your time. Time needs to be assessed and valued. Properly allocated and expanded or delegated. We are to live our lives, so we can profit from every minute we spend in this race called life. Do not ignore the importance of time in 2018. Run to win the race by learning how to profit from the time you spend in your priorities. Do not make the same mistakes you made in 2017.
7. Be Courageous To Stay The Course To Win The Race:
Develop the courage necessary to make this year the best year of your life.
Develop the courage necessary to make this year the best year of your life. Finally, in America the average adult lives 3, 950 weeks. If you are 30, 1,560 are already gone. If you’re 40, 2,080 weeks have passed. Do the math and find out how many of those weeks are already gone for you and how many you have left to release your potential and fulfill your God-given purpose. You owe it to yourself and to your Father God and to the people of the world. You were planted here on earth with a purpose. Do not leave this planet without tapping into everything you were designed to be and do. I am rooting for you. Let’s run 2018 with the single purpose to win this race!
For He is Worthy
Apostle Carlos H. Lopez
Senior leader, Paul and Silas Ministries