…reveals a mixed bag of success and places to improve. I suppose that’s true for most of us.
Do you do some sort of year-end review?
For the past few years I’ve followed the practice of choosing about three words to signify major goals for the year. For 2011, my three words were: Readers, Workshop, and Ride.
Ride: This obviously comprised my big project—and biggest accomplishment—for the year, a 1500-mile hand cycle ride (Nine Miles An Hour)
along the Mississippi River.
Readers: I hoped to attract more of you and find ways to make our connections more meaningful. This was a partial success.
Bigger circle, more readers and audiences—accomplished.
Engagement/meaningful connections—not as much as I’d like.
Workshop: I planned to refine the Bouncing Back Workshop I presented in 2010 and find more audiences.
Here it feels like God said, “Wait.” I just wasn’t ready.
The bike ride gave me a significantly clearer notion of what I wished to communicate. I feel more prepared to tackle this goal in 2012. It’s good to recognize this as an answer to prayer rather than a “failure.”
Key Words For 2012
Looking at what I accomplished (and didn’t) in 2011, I’ve established engagement as my major focus for 2012. Using principles from Lessons From The Jar, I chose three key words for 2012: Ride, Book, and Workshop.
Ride: The tagline for Rich’s Ride inspires this word—Together On A Journey Of Hope. That journey didn’t end in New Orleans.
I don’t know yet exactly what this means for 2012. Perhaps we’ll do another long ride, or a series of shorter ones. I’m just certain that “Ride” isn’t finished yet, so we’ll be working over the next weeks to discover exactly where the next chapter leads us.
Book: “You oughtta write another book.” I keep hearing that, and my gut response is, “Yeah, easier said than done.”
However, I feel strongly that Rich’s Ride spawned some stories that I want to share. I don’t know yet whether it’ll take the form of a published book, an ebook, or perhaps a series of ebooks. But I’m already working on a manuscript, and we’ll see where God takes it.
Workshop: If Rich’s Ride was my big project for 2011, this is “it” for 2012. Somehow, some way, I feel certain that this needs to happen this year on a bigger scale.
This scares me. I don’t know how, I don’t have the resources, and perhaps nobody will respond. Sounds about like where I was with the bike ride a year ago.
Time for another leap of faith.
Do you do some sort of year-end review?
One of my central desires is to Live On Purpose rather than allowing my life to fall around me in some sort of helter-skelter fashion. In Mark Batterson’s words, I want to “pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on me.”
I invite you to join me in assessing 2011 and setting a course for 2012.
Please leave a comment here.
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