Refill with Randy – Goals for 2024 should include helping others
By Randy LeBaron
Good morning! Grab your favorite cup. Fill it up.
And let’s start this NEW YEAR right… TOGETHER!!!
Well friends, it’s that time again. As we say goodbye to 2023 and welcome in the New Year it’s time to start making resolutions so, get your pen and paper and starting listing off all those things you will vow to either start or stop in 2024. For me, I’ve decided to cut down to only one cup of coffee a day (as long as it’s in my new mug as pictured). Seriously though, has anyone ever kept a New Year’s resolution for an entire week let alone the whole year?
Now I’m not saying that wanting to make some positive changes is an entirely futile exercise, but I think a better approach would be to make goals rather than resolutions. What is the difference you ask? Well, a resolution is defined as “a firm decision to do or not to do something” whereas a goal is “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed.” I believe the former tends to set us up for failure while the latter can help us to follow through on what we want to do.
To illustrate, let’s say that you feel like you have gained more weight than you wanted over the past year and would like to do something about it. You can either (A) make a resolution to stop eating junk food and exercise at least 30 min. a day or (B) you can set a goal for yourself to lose 20 lbs by the end of 2024 and come up with a realistic plan to reach your goal through diet and exercise.
Again you might ask, what is the difference? Well, with option (A) you have set yourself a pretty rigid plan and the first time you sneak a candy bar or skip your run you might reason to yourself that you have already broken your resolution and just throw the whole plan out the door. On the other hand, if you choose option (B), there is a lot of room to try different methods to see what works for you and even if you mess up on Day 1 you still have 364 more days to try again.
So what are your goals for 2024? What are some things that you want to accomplish? What are some good habits you want to start or some bad habits you want to quit? Start by writing down your goal and then brainstorming some things you could try towards that end. If a year seems too far away simply create some mini-goals and add them to your calendar. For example, using the goal of losing 20 lbs. by the end of the year, you could start out with a mini-goal of losing 5 lbs. by April 1st by exercising 5-10 min/day 2-3x/week. Then another mini-goal could be to lose a total of 10 lbs by July 1st by exercising 10-15 min/day 3-5 days/week. You get the picture. Don’t start off rigid and unrealistic by making a resolution but rather, give yourself grace and a real chance to reach your goal.
So what it is going to be for 2024? If you aren’t sure I might suggest a goal of thinking more of others than yourself. I think that is something we all should strive to get better at. If you agree then here are some possible things that you could do throughout the year to help you grow in this area:
• Pick a Thursday to help serve dinner to others at Koinonia Kitchen
• Show up some Saturday to help distribute food and clothes or to pray with families on the Hands 4 Hope Truck
• Stop by Risen Café and Pay It Forward by purchasing a meal voucher for someone who is homeless
• Donate furniture and appliances to GOMAC so that they can deliver them to those in need
• Pay the bill for someone behind you in line at the drive-thru or at a restaurant
• Double whatever you give to your favorite church, charity, or other non-profit organization
• Look for ways to lift people up on social media versus tearing them down
• Ask to join someone who may be eating or drinking their coffee alone
The list could go on but hopefully some of these suggestions could at least get you started.
See you in 2024!
Pastor Randy
