If you haven’t read part one of this conversation, that subject line might have felt a bit left of field and ‘where did that come from all of a sudden?!?’ Forgive me. And then click here to get caught up on part one. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back 🙂
Read it? Done the challenge? Great!
(Not done it? Done it in your head? Hehe, seriously, what are you like?!? Take some time, even if it’s just 15 minutes, do the exercise from yesterday and then come back. I’ll still be here waiting for you.)
OK, so you did it?
Yey! Well done you! 😀
Seriously, I know how easy it is to skip over stuff or tell yourself you’ll get to it later, but you did it so well done.
Unless you’re made of stone, that exercise should have left you feeling really pumped up and excited. I know just thinking about you doing it got me going!
I really am determined that this is going to be the last December ever where we look back on the year past and feel a bit sad because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we almost kinda, sorta wasted it a bit.
Starting January 6th we’re going to be working on really solid, concrete ways to make sure we remember and celebrate all the small wins in the year to come. That piece isn’t ready yet but as soon as it is, you’ll be the first to get all the gorgeous details.
In the meantime though, let’s get back to that dream of yours. All the stuff you allowed to pour out, unedited.
That stuff is important.
God made you to be you and those dreams and ambitions and passions, he put those there. Our job is to show up and take daily consistent action toward making those dreams a reality.
God’s big enough and clever enough and wonderful enough to give us a nudge if we’re getting off course but if we’re not showing up and doing the work, we won’t ever get started.
Depending on how long you gave yourself to write, you might have a massive load of different stuff written down.
All of it is important to you but now is the time to think about whether all of it is important to you in the next 12 months.
That’s today’s challenge.
And for this one, you’re going to need a pen and either some sticky notes or lots of little pieces of paper. Don’t let stationary (or lack of it!) hold you back. You don’t have to wait until you can get to the shops. If you don’t have sticky notes, just get whatever paper you have and cut it into small pieces as we go.
It’s not about making it look pretty. Lots of these pieces of paper are going to end up in an envelope in a drawer anyway (I’ll get to that in a moment) so just improvise if you need to.
OK, so now you’ve got your paper and pen, you’re going to go back through the stuff you wrote yesterday and, taking each thing in turn, God helping you, you’re going to decide if it’s something for the next 12 months, something for later, or something for one day maybe.
Trust your instinct.
Try not to second guess yourself.
There are no right or wrong answers and if you change you’re mind later, that’s ok 🙂
“Father God, thank you for all the dreams and ambition and excitement you give me. Those passions you put on my heart, I really want this next 12 months to be the time I make those happen.
I also know though that it’s really easy to take on too much, get overwhelmed, and end up doing nothing, so please help me now as I go through these things. Help me to know which are for now, which are for later, and which are just maybes.
Help me to hear the whisper into my heart as I go through each item.
Help me to trust and just go with it, even if some of the things for the next 12 months, I don’t know how they could even be possible.
Thank you.”
That’s my prayer for you and me as we do this exercise together. There are no right or wrong answers. We can change our mind. We just need to go with it and trust.
When you’re done, you going to need to find yourself two envelopes and some blue tac or sticky tape.
Write ‘Later’ and ‘One day maybe’ on the front of the envelopes and whichever things you decided belong in those groups, put the pieces of paper in them. Close the envelopes and put them into a drawer.
They are now safe. Those dreams and ambitions can still happen one day. You haven’t lost them, said goodbye to them or let go of them.
They’re out of your brain and in a safe place so that you can focus on those dreams that are ready to happen right now.
And now, everything that’s left, the things that you decided were for the next 12 months, you’re going to stick them up somewhere where you can see them every day.
On your white board. Above your desk. On the fridge. I don’t much care where you put them. You just have to keep them visible, every day.
God talked about doing this in Habakkuk. He had the people write his revelation down nice and big so it could be seen on the run.
You might not literally run every day but I’ll bet you don’t slow down all that much. Life moves fast. The pace is hurried. We want to write down your ‘next 12 months’ dreams and hang them up somewhere obvious, so we don’t miss them.
Ready? Get to it.
And in case you need the same reminder as yesterday …
Yes, you might wonder what the point is. It might feel silly or stupid or like this is a waste of time. You might be tempted to skip it completely. Don’t. Just acknowledge that it feels a bit daft, and do it anyway.
Even if you decide not to play in January, even if you do nothing more with these things you’ve written down other than stick them up, even if you think this is the silliest, most pointless thing you’ve ever done, it doesn’t matter.
Just by getting really clear on what you want and when you want it, you’re already ahead of the game. You should give yourself a pat on the back and smile, because this stuff is going to be super useful and important in making 2014 your best year ever and I am already so, so proud of you for getting this far.
Now, get to it!