#25 How to Reinvent Yourself in 2016

If you’re like me, you’re serious about life. I’m a planner.  My wife calls me Mr. List (among other things). So it’s a New Year – time again for all of us to envision how we can improve ourselves. What’s the next step for you in becoming the person you-were-intended-to-be? Bestselling author Matthew Kelly has coined a great phrase when he asks this question, he calls people to be the “best-version-of-themselves.”

Last year at this time I wrote an article that resonated with a lot of my readers.  It recommended choosing goals or “Resolutions” that were really worth your time, and energy.  It’s entitled “Set Goals Worth Fighting For”.  Check here to see it again.

In every industry and in all walks of life, the real movers and shakers keep moving and shaking. They’re always reinventing themselves. I often remind myself that “Movers move!”  Here are 11 questions designed to help you take aim at what you must do in 2016 to keep moving and reinventing yourself!

1. What’s happened since last year at this time?
2. How’s your health?
3. How’s your marriage?
4. How are your relationships with your family?
5. How’s your personal performance at work?
6. Did you touch someone else in a remarkable or memorable way last year?
7. Did you give of yourself in a new way?
8. Have you actually written out a bucket list?
9. Did your debt increase or decrease in 2015?
10. Are you more emotionally centered or frayed?
11. Are you praying more or less?

As you ponder these things in your heart, you feel the interior compass pointing you in a certain direction. Take control of what you can control. If  2015 hit you harder than you hit it, now is your time to turn the tables.  If you were healthier a year ago, don’t settle. If your most important relationships are not the best they could be, decide what you need to do immediately, to bring your best self to them (especially if that means humbling yourself in some way.  Chances are, that’s just the glue those cracks need).

Is there anyone outside of your home that considers you invaluable? If not, how can you become a better team player? How can you give of yourself – without seeking payback of any kind?  That’s usually the fastest way to changing anything.

If you do not yet have a personal bucket list, a simple notecard or mobile phone will do.  I only suggest that in addition to the standard items like the places you want to visit and things you want to do, that you also invest in yourself and think about the word Legacy.  What do you want to leave behind? What contribution to others do you want to make, while you still have the chance?  Instead of just a wish list, make it a bucket list worth fighting for.

Now look at that last question again.  The clear path to becoming the person you-were-intended-to-be is through prayer.  If you’ve ever heard the practice of meditation promoted, I’m here to say that prayer is meditation in hyperdrive.   It makes perfect sense to plug your mobile devices in, on a regular basis, to power up and download data from the cloud.  Do the same for your heart, mind and soul with prayer.

With prayer, you are tapping into answers from The One who has all the answers, all the time.  And that’s just what you need when reinventing yourself!  Happy New Year Friends.

“Jesus has an answer for everything” – Matthew Kelly

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