	Bob Hostetler > Writing

Make the Most of 2008

by Bob Hostetler

So you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions, right? Let me guess: you want to exercise more. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Win the lottery.

You’re not alone. Millions of Americans make well-intentioned resolutions for the new year. It’s a great time to look ahead, an opportunity to start fresh. But this is not another article about New Year’s resolutions. Instead, allow me to suggest a different approach for 2008:

1. Think mission. The Hasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov once told his followers, “If you are not going to be better tomorrow than you were today, then what need do you have for tomorrow?” But few things improve by accident, including people. So how do you improve on purpose? With the help of a personal mission statement, which will help you design a life that’s lived on purpose. What is your mission? “To be the best husband, father, and golfer I can be?” “To become the first female president of the United States?” Or “To boldly go where no one has gone before?” Whatever your true mission is--and it can be whatever you want it to be--you’ll instantly increase your chances of fulfilling your purpose . . . if you first define one.

2. Think goals. I last made a New Year’s resolution twenty years ago. Instead, I set and revise goals every January. Some surveys indicate that nearly half of all Americans make New Year’s resolutions . . . but only five percent ever write out personal goals. If you use these first weeks of the new year to set definite, measurable, achievable goals, guess what? You're in the top five percent! I set goals every year in five categories: Professional, Financial, Physical, Personal/family, and Spiritual goals. In addition to goals in those categories for the coming year, I also set three-year, five-year, and lifetime goals. Of course, you probably don’t want to be obsessive-compulsive like me, but if you set a mere five or six goals for 2008, you’ll be surprised at how much you can achieve in the course of a year. You probably won’t reach all your goals, but that's not the point. This is: it’s far easier to pursue a few things than it is to try to pursue everything. And it’s far better to pursue something than nothing.

3. Think of someone else. Paul of Tarsus told his followers to “look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4, NIV). So this year, instead of making resolutions that benefit you, consider how you can make the world--or your world, at least--a better place in 2008. Here are twelve quick suggestions:

•give something away every day (or once a week if that’s too challenging). It could be money, but it doesn’t have to be. A smile, a compliment, or a helping hand will do just fine.

•forgive a long-held grudge. Forgiving someone else will bless you as much--if not more--than the person you forgive. So why put it off another day?

•leave a generous tip. A surprisingly generous tip can brighten the day for an overworked waitress, cab driver, hairdresser, etc.

•revive courtesy and chivalry. Say “please” and “thank you,” open a door, offer your seat, let someone else in line ahead of you, etc.

•give the shirt off your back. You know all those clothes you never wear anymore? Get ‘em out of your closet and give them to The Salvation Army or Goodwill Industries.

•pray for strangers. In addition to praying for family and friends, cultivate the habit of praying for people in line at the grocery store, for mourners in a funeral procession, for ambulance passengers, etc.

•buy an extra--to give away. The next time you buy a cup of coffee on a crisp morning or a newspaper at the local diner, buy an extra to give away to someone nearby.

•meet a neighbor. If you don’t know your neighbors--or haven’t talked to them for a long time--take a plate of cookies or a greeting card as a gesture of friendliness.

•write U.S. military personnel serving overseas (via www.operationdearabby.net or www.patrioticpenpals.com).

•pick up litter.

•return shopping carts to the “cart corral.”

•wave or wink at a kid.

Of course, these ideas and suggestions are not particularly original or earth-shaking . . . but they may be enough to help you make the most of 2008. And that, after all, is just what “tomorrow” is for.

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