A simple plan for new year priorities

A Simple Plan for New Year Priorities

I love the freshness, the simplicity, of a new year. Do you?  Before the busyness returns and the schedules fill up, we have this quiet pause, giving us time to contemplate a simple plan for the new year that reflects what is important to us.

Many of us use this time to write out goals or resolutions for the new year. Have you done this? Perhaps you choose a “word of the year” to bring focus to your coming endeavors. All of these are great new year habits! However, I often found that my new year resolutions were piled on top of an already full plate of responsibilities and goals, ultimately leading to frustration and burnout.

A few years ago, feeling this frustration, I chose not to write any new year resolutions. Instead I took time to clarify my priorities and see where that would lead. The result of this exercise was surprisingly helpful for me and continues to direct my decisions today. I no longer write out new resolutions at the start of a new year. Instead, I determine my current and future goals by sifting them through the lens of my priorities. If this resonates with you, perhaps this 3-step process will be of help in clarifying your dreams and goals for 2025.

Here is my simple 3-step process:

1 – List all current responsibilities and goals: Include home responsibilities, work responsibilities, volunteer responsibilities, family responsibilities, personal responsibilities, and any other tasks or goals you have.

2 -Organize these responsibilities and goals into lists: Do you see similar threads of motivation in your lists? What does this reveal about what you love, or what you are passionate about? Create a simple heading for each list that reflects your desires in that area.

3- Form these headings in a list:  Take a look at your list of headings from step 2. Do they accurately reflect what is important to you? If so, great! If not, reexamine your lists and headings (step 1 and step 2). Can you discover greater clarity regarding what you value, what you are passionate about? If so, rewrite your headings to reflect your values and goals.

Once you have clarified these headings, rewrite them in short, simple phrases and organize them in the order of importance to you, beginning with the most important one. Here is what my list looks like:

I will prioritize my time, energy and resources toward living out the following priorities:
1: to love God
2: to love my husband and children
3: to love God’s Word and God’s people
4: to teach others to do the same

I don’t recall what year I wrote these priorities, but every year since, instead of attempting to create new resolutions, I filter all my current and potential plans for the new year through this grid. I ask myself if each goal or responsibility I am considering will accomplish one of my four priorities. If it does not, I prayerfully reconsider whether or not there is a place for it in my life at this time.

This is not a fool-proof method with guaranteed results. We do not know what a new year will bring. But this has been a helpful starting point for me each year. Perhaps it will encourage you also. How comforting to know that, with God’s word and prayer to guide us, we can be confident He will provide the direction we need to accomplish His will in 2025!

Debbie Ashley
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Hello! I’m Debbie — Lover of Jesus, Pastor’s Wife, Mom, Encourager, Hobby Gardener and passionate about the simple pleasures of life.

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