Happy New Year! Christmas is over (boo!). Winter is here (yay!). Created my @flipagram from ’13 (you can see it here!). Started a new scarf for my husband. Finished my @goodreads for the last year. Began journaling for the New Year. I. AM. READY. FOR. 2014! Expectant, hopeful… READY!
When it comes to starting the New Year (or any new season, for that matter), I’m excited to roll-up-my-sleeves-and-get-it-done! Being a listologist (if there were a degree for such thing, I’d have my PhD!), I mostly feel excited to make lists of things to do for the coming year. I love lists! I love lists, to a fault. I’ve had the awesome revelation that lists will not and cannot save your life. But, there is something very satisfying about making a list and checking off the items on said list once they’re completed! (Who’s with me??!!)
A couple years ago, our church staff read a book together called StrengthsFinder 2.0. It’s a book written for corporations to help them better understand what each individual’s strengths are and then how to use those strengths to help with the overall vision and goals of the corporation. I love stuff like this! Anything having to do with our identity, personality, character… I just eat it up. At the end of the book there’s an online test to take to find out what your specific strengths are. It lists your top 5 out of 34 strengths. Here’s my top five:
- Includer
- Positivity
- WOO (Winning Others Over)
- Communication
- Achiever
They aren’t in order of what’s the strongest, necessarily, as they all play a part in my day-to-day life at any given moment. The most “AH-HA” strength for me was that of the Achiever. It explains my constant need for achievement. Everyday. Any day. Even on vacation! :) It made sense of my list-making. What a relief! (Read more about my strengths here, courtesy of The Gallup Organization online.)
So, in light of this new season, and in light of that fact that I am a listologist and an achiever, here’s my list of “Top 10 Ways to Prepare for the New Year.” Happy 2014!
Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. | Isaiah 43:19
R E F U R B I S H E D 