Increase
As we embark on yet another year, many are setting their resolutions or their intentions for the year. For the past few years, I’ve been using the One Word challenge as opposed to resolutions. I’m certainly not knocking what you choose, but this has been a game changer for me. It’s a great devotional my mom sent to me and let’s just say… I’ve seen results!
My 2021 One Word was increase. Now before you let your mind wander too far into the big bucks, let me say I truly feel we sometimes limit a good bit of our lives to monetary value.
However, this One Word extends to all areas of your life -if you let it. For myself, I wanted to see increase in a few areas of my life -mentally, professionally, spiritually and entrepreneurial. Here are some of those areas mentioned and the results of my One Word – INCREASE.
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Mentally I wanted to increase what type of information I was consuming and feeding my mind better “brain food”. Often, we read about a person’s success being attributed to a shift in their mindset. While this shift is true, I find most times when people say this, they seldom share how they went about shifting their thoughts. Let me tell you, it’s something you MUST be very intentional about doing. I began reading more books that aligned with what I wanted to see produced in my thoughts which would feed my actions. This became my benchmark for “increasing” time spent reading. I set a goal of reading at least 5 books for the 2021 year. Now for someone who is an avid reader, this may seem a trivial number. On the contrary, for those like myself who are trying to incorporate more reading, this may be an ideal number. Here are the books I read this year:
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About Purpose by David Ramos (Kindle read)
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The Perfect Day to Boss Up by Rick Ross
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Magnetic Faith by David Ramos (Kindle read)
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The Shack by WM. Paul Young
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The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
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Love Her Well by Kari Kampakis
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I ended up reading one more book than expected. In 2022, I want to read 8 books. You thought I was going to say 10 huh!? Lol.
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Spiritually, I wanted to increase my time with God beyond daily prayer. I began being more intentional about reading devotionals that tied into what I may have been battling and even things that excited me! As I grow in Christ, I want to encourage others to grow in their personal relationship as well. Using the YouVersion Bible app, I’ve shared (and continue) to share excerpts from daily devotions I read -including the devotional for this book “One Word That Will Change Your Life”. In addition to the joy and peace it has brought me, others have DM’d to tell me how much they too enjoy the devotional excerpts that lead them to reading more devotions on their own. My goal is to have an impact that brings God glory.
Relationally, I wanted to increase time spent with my teenager, beyond the normal drive to and pick up from school. To do this, I became more intentional about our mother/daughter outings. Whether it was going to new lunch spots, choosing a new recipe to cook, or having a movie night, I made certain the importance of our time together was communicated. Let me be very genuine in saying my teenager was not always welcoming of our time. She would much rather do her own thing on some days. BUT that’s her business because this is happening and spilling over into years to come! I have found that we talk more, and we’re a bit more patient with each other.
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Financial increase is one of those things that’s on most minds. I won’t act like it’s not included in my One Word, but I am learning to prioritize it accordingly. Once upon a time, it used to lead my goals and intentions. Now, with the One Word perspective, I am learning to place it in a category as a means and not the end all be all. Here’s what I set and achieved financially:
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Maxed out my IRA contribution $6,000
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Purchased an investment property
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Saved 5% more money than I saved last year and stepped out on faith (see above bullet point)
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Opened an UTMA for my daughter
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Now for the One Word of 2022…
Pursue
PURSUE…There are some intentions I have set that still fall in the categories mentioned above, but this go round it’s all about CRAZY FAITH! 2021 was good but 2022… I am excited for God’s favor and seeing how it flows!
Share your ONE WORD in the comments.
Let’s hold each other accountable and get everything meant for us in this New Year!
