This year I’m incorporating a new strategy to help bring accountability and focus to my days. I’m want to share it with you because if you’re like me, there are plenty of things in each of your days that are out of your control and I want to help you define a specific set of actions that you can control that can bring stability, focus, and perspective to your days.

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Show Highlights

At the beginning of each year, we love making resolutions and plans. I’m a heavy planner myself, but, as time goes by, I’ve realized that most of my plans don’t come true, largely due to the many things that happen that are out of our control.

However, there are several things that ARE in your control. There are small but significant things that if you put yourself towards them, you can say you gave it your best.

When I do everything in my control, I can say to myself at the end of the day: “I cannot control the outcomes, but as far as inputs go, I feel like I honored the Lord with how I did my day.”

Take some time to reflect on the little things that you can do each day. What are the key things that you want to include in your day that at the end of the day you can say it was a good day, you gave it your best, you did the right things.

Start incorporating these things into your daily routine by trying habit stacking. Take note of things that are automatic to you: eating at the same time; taking the same route to work; your morning routine. Then, add a new habit that you want to develop to your routine, creating a chain reaction of habits.

For example, I’ve been able to establish the routine of waking up early everyday. I can then stack it with my prayer time. I drink coffee early in the morning everyday. I can stack reading the Word for the day on to that.

Habit stacking eliminates the effort of developing new habits separately. One habit dominoes into the other.

Keep up new habits by doing habit tracking. List down the habits you want to form and check off each time you’re able to fulfill them.

These principles and strategies can help shape your days in a way that ultimately shapes your character and your destiny.

Remember, when you sow a thought, you begin an action and when you sow an action, you start to begin developing a habit. When you sow a habit, you reap character in the long run.

You really have the opportunity to set yourself up for a year of thriving.

Resources Mentioned

• Jay’s email: [email protected]
• Jay’s e-book: Fun Family Conversations. Text THINGS to 66866 to download for free.
• Previous episode: Nir Eyal: Raising Indistractable Children
• Previous episode: This Year: Do Less, Better
• Book: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Book: Indistractable by Nir Eyal
• My Wife Emily’s Habit Tracker
• App: PrayerMate
• Journal: Levenger 5-year journal