“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” —Pablo Picasso
Today is January 2nd, 2020. As with every new year, I’m scrolling through social media and reading everyone’s new plans for the coming months. I know individuals who are committing to making better friends, aspire to have better credit scores, and prioritizing their overall well-being. Unfortunately, I haven’t been a person who is reflecting on what changes I desire to make starting this year. I don’t have a list of to-do’s that I want to have accomplished by 2021. The idea of New Year’s resolutions and goals is not something that I have given much thought to.
This morning I pondered on the notion of New Year’s Resolutions. I had to ask myself some real questions such as:
“What do you want to have accomplished by the end of the year?”
“Where is your list of goals?”
“What are your plans?”
While some people might think that these would be easy questions for me to answer, I could not come to any reliable conclusions. Instead of compiling a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish for the year, after much reflection, I decided to abolish the entire idea of making New Year’s goals altogether. Here’s why:
My Life Is Not My Own
In years past, I have tried to be a person who makes goals. Crafting out ideas of what job I would work, where I would live, and what I would possess is what I thought established reasonable goals. I have been that person that has said,
“In this year, I will move to New York, I will have 5,000 YouTube Subscribers and have a 750 credit score.”
In my experience, the mundane New Years Goals lists that I have attempted to make never really worked out for me. I believe that my goals seldom work out because my life is not my own. I look at myself as a person who is in partnership and connection with God. There have been instances where I will aspire to work at a specific company, take on a particular project, and an utterly coincidental circumstance will take place disabling me from doing so.
When I finished graduating from undergrad, it was my goal to go work at the Oprah Winfrey Network; it didn’t happen, which inevitably lead me to Boston University for grad school. After completing graduate school, it was a goal to try and land a job with Steve Harvey to work for his talk show. Unfortunately, Steve’s talk show got canceled, and I had to move back home to Ohio. During that time in Ohio, I got to be an uncle to my nephew, Tyson, and write a television pilot. The goals that I’ve attempted to create for myself very seldom work.
I love that witty quote that says, “When a man makes a plan, God laughs.” To try and make goals crafting out what my life should be at any given time is somewhat narcissistic. My desire for 2020 is to not make goals for myself, but rather, stay in the flow of what God has for me. I understand that this planetary experience I’ve been blessed with is a part of a more significant design than I can conceive. It is my job to trust God and follow His plan for my life. I know that whatever “goal” I can write on a piece of paper pales in comparison to the bigger goal that God would have for me.
It’s Better To Be Concerned With Identity Than Goals
To say that I’m going to trust God going into this new year does not negate my responsibility to do my best each day. I plan to trust God’s plan for my life but also plan to make identity-based habits. James Clear said it best, “The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).” To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself. It would be best if you built identity-based habits.
I believe that identity-based habits are vital. For example: how minuscule would it be to set a goal of losing 10 pounds? A more practical and useful approach would be to become a person who prioritizes wellness and fitness. Instead of aiming to read 50 books a year, it is more realistic and practical to become a person who reads in their free time. In this new year, I don’t plan to make goals but to be a person who works on creating a more positive self-identity.
There Is No Big Moment
In a world plagued by social media where everyone is highlighting their best moments, best views and best angles, it’s easy to believe that the “high moments” we are consuming are the norm. I’ve come to understand that the big moments are just a collection of small actions that have taken place over time. This past year I had the pleasure of watching Beyonce’s HOMECOMING Netflix documentary. It was my favorite film of the year because I felt that the film did a phenomenal job of articulating hard work and consistency. When I watched Beyonce’s Coachella performance live, all I was able to witness was the performance, the big moment. Watching the Netflix special, I was able to see just a glimpse of all of the hard work that went into the production. Where I think goals fail many people, is that they create this notion of a big moment–in actuality, it’s about small daily actions that lead towards the big goal or big moment. In 2020, I plan to do my best to make incremental positive actions that will lead to accomplishing big success.
Conclusion
As I embark on a new year, I can honestly say that I don’t have goals. I don’t have compiled lists of to-dos that I desire to complete by 2021. What I do have is a desire to follow God’s plan. My prayer is that I can have an open heart and mind to receive whatever God’s desire is for my life. I understand the importance of prioritizing identity over goals. I plan to live each day with the intent to be the absolute best I can be in every way. Lastly, I know that life is not about big moments or big accomplishments. Every moment I have to work towards doing good work and being a good person. If I can be open-minded enough to follow God’s plan, focus on my self-identity, and make incremental positive actions each day–I genuinely believe that this will be an incredible year. I’m excited to see what will happen in 2020, and after reading this blog, I hope that you are too.
Be Inspired.
If you enjoyed this blog, I invite you to purchase my books AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON.
You can also listen to my podcast by clicking HERE.