Adding and Subtracting in 2012

I think one common mistake many people, myself included, make when establishing goals is forgetting to consider or plan what will be required to accomplish those goals. Typically, if you hope to add something to your life, you'll also have to subtract from your life as well. Here are my additions and subtractions for 2012...

1. Fall back in love with Jesus as my Savior and less in love with what I think He should do for me
Nothing frustrates me more in my walk with Christ than my own selfish viewpoints that lead me to believe that Jesus is my genie in a bottle. Most of us won't admit we treat Him that way, but we're typically more excited about church services and God meeting our every need than we are just learning to love God and savor the fact that we are a child of the King. I hope to simply learn to rest and be content with Him this year. If I don't do a better job of this during 2012, I could care less about the next 3 things I've listed.

2. Read more books and watch less TV
I have a goal to read 20 books this year. That's a little over 1 book every 3 weeks. I realized in 2011 that TV only decreases my brain-functioning, ha ha. It's also a real hindrance to personal growth and development. Will I still watch TV? Absolutely, but just a lot less than I did last year.

3. Exercise more and eat less junk
Last year was not a good year on the physical health side of things. The one time I really attempted to start exercising in 2011, I injured my back. The back is mostly healed now, so I plan to have at least 4 days of exercise each week that will build in length and difficulty throughout the year. I also completely lost my discipline with sweets. I definitely need to practice those in moderation this year. My goal is one sweet per week.

4. Increase my intentional efforts to encourage people on a regular basis and decrease my talk of "wanting" to do it
I had a lot of good intentions last year when it came to building up the people in the life, but I honestly feel like I simply didn't follow through. Initially I decided I would set a reminder on my phone to remind me to encourage people throughout the week, but how ridiculous is that? So no reminder, just an intentional, mental focus to make sure it happens.

5. Invest into others with the expectation of them investing into others as well.
(This one doesn't fit into the theme of adding and subtracting, but it had to be included)
I feel like I spent a lot of time investing into people in 2011, and I'm praying God has used those conversations to truly help people along the way. However, I didn't do a good job of encouraging those I was investing my live into to start doing the same thing with someone else. As I share my life with others, I must do so with the desire to see the process multiplied. This is basic discipleship, and I missed the boat on half of it!