“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Happy New Year! A new year is usually the time we wipe the slate clean and start something fresh and new. At the beginning of a new year, we often anticipate a new beginning, set new goals, and acquire a new perspective; however, by the time March rolls around, the new beginning has become a monotonous routine, the new perspective has faded, and the intended goal has fallen by the wayside. So, how can you counter this behavior and learn to stick with the goals you’ve set. The answer is to be purposeful.

In an article titled “Being Intentional: 6 Ways to Be Intentional Every Day,” Mark Pettit offers the following ways to become more purposeful in your everyday life:

1. Be deliberate with your day. If you are clear as to where you want to spend your time, energy and focus each day, you are far more likely to achieve the result you want.
2. Be clear on the result you want. Get clarity about the outcome you want through powerful goal setting and understand the importance of achieving the result you want.
3. Be purposeful with your time. We all want to achieve a result in the easiest and simplest way possible. When you have that mindset, you become more intentional about your time.
4. Be considered with your focus. This narrow focus takes the guesswork out of where you should invest your time and focus. There will only be a few areas that you should be focusing on to get that result. Identify those areas and eliminate other activities.
5. Become focused on your goals. The perfect framework for being intentional about what you want is to set powerful goals. Goal setting gives you a plan and path to work towards every day and helps you start your day with intention.
6. Be mindful of your most important relationships. Intentionality multiplies the power of each relationship that is important to you. Whether they are work relationships, client relationships or personal relationships, what we practice grows if we pay attention to it.

For example, you have decided to improve your health by changing your diet. So, how can you be purposeful in doing this? You may want to strategically shop for groceries, meal prep, use portion control, drink plenty of water while modifying your diet to the specific health objective you have set. As 2025 progress, I challenge you to be purposeful in setting and achieving your goals whether it be improving your diet, losing weight, exercising, taking a class, saving money, etc. You can do this!

 “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14