2025

There is nothing inherently special about December 31 or January 1. I do not believe it is magical or spiritually special. It is simply a turn of the calendar, where some of the best parties of the year might happen.

However.

I do believe that the New Year holiday serves as a cultural monument, a man-made milestone, a built-in check point as we move forward in life. I can make it more than a party; I can let this season give me value beyond the party. As the culture emphasizes this date, I like to utilize it for reflection and vision. I cannot go backwards and change anything, but I can look back and learn so that things ahead might be different. I can use the moment as a pivot or launch for something.

I do not believe in the “new year, new me” idea. I am the same me, but I want to recognize that I am on a path of growth and a journey towards a healthier me. If I want to live a life of purpose and impact, I need to be purposed and intentional before things happen. The cultural monument of the new year celebration serves as a moment a catalyzing, a catapult towards something.

It is my choice to place value on this holiday; it is my choice to be intentional to reflect and cast vision. That is where the value of this holiday shows up beyond the party.

Reflect

Reflection is the intentional look backwards to consider what is behind. It involves evaluation and contemplation. It pairs celebration and grief into one conversation.

My time of reflection actually started in November. When I started my gym membership, I used a lot of my solo workouts to begin reflecting on my year: ups and downs, victories and failures, challenges faced, hardships endured and overcome, people of impact, changes in relationships, goals met and goals missed. This year was not a failure, but it did not go anything like I planned. It was another year of transition, which means there needs to be grace applied during my reflections and evaluations.

I did not meet many goals, but that does not mean I necessarily failed. The goals I set were ignorant to the circumstances ahead of me at the time.

Use the next few days to reflect, to evaluate, to be grateful, to be challenged and motivated.

But do not stop there.

Cast Vision

Reflection should stir something in us to cast a vision for what’s ahead. I love the idea of casting vision. It is simply deconstructing the question: what do I want my life to look like some time from now? You get to set the terms of that question, pull it apart and build something. If you do not cast a vision for yourself and your family, you will inevitably permit others to decide what your life looks like: your job, your extended family, your culture, etc.

If you do not clarify what you want your life to look like, someone else will decide for you.

My wife and I do this for our family; we have actually done this every year since we have been married. We reflect and then we cast vision: our budget, our goals, our habits, our books we read, our spiritual devotion, our community. All of this comes up in this intentional conversation.

It is not a perfect plan of what is to come, but we are answering the question: what do we want our lives to look like? Do not get stuck on being right or wrong. Be purposeful and decisive, dream a little bit, and cast a vision for your own life and your family.

So that is my question for you as we turn the calendar from 2024 to 2025: what do you want your life to look like a year from now? or just 6 months from now? or even just a month from now?