I set some goals for this year to reflect my heart.
The sun has risen on a new year, and a whole slew of new choices to be made between now and December 31. I want my choices to be purposeful and I don’t want them to be selfish.
My usual tendency is to look at the circumstances around me and my personal goals. I make decisions based off what I want to accomplish or what things in life are priorities. I don’t always consider my heart.
I want my life and my focus to matter in the biggest and best way possible, and I believe the only way for me to do that is to prioritize my heart. As a Christian, I have given my heart to the Lord, and I want my choices this year to reflect that. This is the reason I have chosen the word “Heart” as my 2025 Word of the Year.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14 (ESV)
I’ve Set Goals that Reflect My Heart
For several years now I’ve worked with Shaunta Grimes and the Ninja Writers to plan my year and set goals. She has a process of breaking them down into manageable and actionable pieces.
These are some of the areas that I set goals in:
cleaning,
health,
relationships,
writing,
and my spiritual life.
Goal 1: A Clean House
I want a clean house. I’ve tried for three years to make this a priority. I hope I’m not the only one who struggles with this, but I’m not great at cleaning.
Don’t get me wrong, my house is not filthy. I do clean the bathrooms when they get gross. I sweep and mop. I clean my kitchen. I’m the type of person who will clean the bathrooms or dust when I know someone is coming over. But don’t look in my fridge, bedroom, or on top of those high cabinets I can’t reach.
I feel this “clean what’s necessary” lifestyle doesn’t allow me to be a good steward of my house. I feel embarrassed to have people over, and it’s not as healthy a living environment as is should be. I’m also not sure how I’d feel if Jesus came over.
Shaunta recommends 10 minutes a day to establish a habit, but that didn’t work for me last year with cleaning because 10 minutes wasn’t enough time for a cleaning project and I didn’t want to give up more than that. It fell off my list of priorities and I didn’t even clean my whole kitchen. I cleaned the whole fridge, but now it’s nasty again because I haven’t touched it since January of last year.
This year I’m going to set cleaning projects designated for the weekends, when I have unscheduled time. I’m hoping this will work better than what I tried to do last year. I’ve accomplished two projects so far!
Goal 2: Maintain Good Health
Although I am already fairly healthy, I don’t work toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I tried to exercise regularly last year and didn’t keep it up. I’m trying again this year.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ~1 Corinthians 6:19 (NKJV)
My goals are:
eat within a healthy calorie range (1,200),
drink an appropriate amount of water (64 oz.),
and exercise for at least 10 minutes a day.
So far this month I have only exercised a few times. I have not kept track of my calories and water, and I haven’t changed any snacking habits. I have work to do to form better habits and accomplish this goal!
Goal 3: Build Relationships
I love people, but, as an introvert, I prefer to keep to myself. I have a lot of writing projects and excuses to stay at home. Keeping to myself doesn’t develop relationships with the people in my life, and I’ve been feeling a desire in my heart to be better at this.
My goal this year is to spend more time getting to know people by visiting with them. Whether it’s coffee, dinner, or just hanging out, it’s important to make time for people.
Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. ~1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV)
The reason I set this goal is God makes it clear that we should comfort, love, support, and encourage others. Also, I want to actively love the people in my life.
Hospitality isn’t really my strong suit, and my schedule is fairly full. However, I know if I make it a priority I can accomplish this goal.
Goal 4: Complete Writing Projects
One area I feel confident in pursuing is writing. I wrote my first book and published Finding Blessings while Fighting COVID-19: Facts, Feelings, and Faith in 2020. I also started writing my first novel through NaNoWriMo in 2020. I completed the 50,000 words in a month and have since completed and edited that novel.
After completing those projects I realized that I wanted to continue writing and I felt God leading me to do so. Since then I have worked on and need to finish:
a memoir,
journal,
devotional,
and three more novels.
Some of these projects are complete and I plan to self-publish them. Others I’m continuing to edit. I also have tons of content in my head for future projects.
In order to be successful as a writer I need an updated website, people who follow me, knowledge, and training. I set goals for this year to work on these areas.
It’s all still a work in progress, but if you’d like to support a Christian fantasy writer, I send out a monthly newsletter and I’d love to add you to my email list. See below for my contact and social media information.
Goal 5: Strong Spiritual Habits
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. ~Proverbs 4:20–21 (NJKV)
My faith is the most important thing in my life, so I want it to be at the forefront of every choice I make. There are a few areas I want to work on this year:
Scripture Memory — I have designated memory verses every month to go with monthly themes related to my word of the year. I’ve already memorized the first two for the month of January and plan to continue through December.
Quiet Time/ Bible Reading — Our church has a notebook with scripture readings for almost every night. There’s a spot for response and reflection. My goal is to keep up with it.
Prayer — I have set prayer alarms to be intentional about prayer. I hope to be attentive to them and to have focused prayer times.
It’s a new year, and a new opportunity to accomplish goals. This year I’ve aligned my goals with my Word of the Year. I thought about my heart, and what I feel is important in the areas of cleaning, health, writing, and faith.
I challenge you to set your own Word of the Year. Examine your heart. Is there a word that you feel sums up your focus for 2025? What do you want to accomplish this year?
Please support me! If you want to receive updates about how I progress toward my goals this year, monthly devotions, or pieces of my fantasy novel, you can subscribe to my email list. Feel free to contact me via:
Tiktok (@realizeblessings),
or email me at lisahudson76@gmail.com.
You can also read more devotional content on my website or find my Random Bible Thought videos on YouTube.
Prayers are also appreciated!!
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