3 New Things and 3 Old Things I’m Practicing This Year

A rose, white keyboard and mouse, and teal notebook to represent reflecting on new and old things I'm practicing this year

I don’t know about you, but I did a lot of reflecting, goal-setting, and organizing recently. One of my favorite journal exercises is to reflect on new and old things I’m practicing this year. It’s a fresh way to approach my goal-setting, too. In this post, I’m sharing my new and old things. I hope it will inspire you to reflect on yours.

It would have been more efficient if I’d done all of this in December, but alas, December raced by like a fast train. I think it was because Thanksgiving was late, and also because most of my Christmas tree lights were burnt out. (That’s a story for another time.)

I love to do this stuff, by the way. Reflect. Set goals. Plan. Journal. All those things. It’s in my DNA.

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I set goals. Maybe it’s the same thing, but I like to think it’s different.

Let me give you an example. An old New Year’s Resolution might be Get in Shape. But a goal for the same thing? Lift weights three times a week. That’s getting closer to one of those SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely. (If you’re craving some goal setting guidance, check out my goal-setting series.)

I came up with 8 big goals this year. (Spoiler alert: Lifting weights is not one of them.) One thing helped me, and maybe it will help you.

I thought about seasons.

It’s not rocket science, I know. And lots of people do this. (Check out this resource for reflecting on the seasons.) Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. Instead of saying, “Yikes. How can I set a goal for the entire year?”

So I jotted down plans for this winter season, focusing on Faith, Family, Health, and Writing. I know, those are BIG abstract things, but I reflected on each and on my Word for the Year (more about that another time), and broke them into bite-sized pieces. I’m not going to share all the goodies, but here are some new and old things I’m practicing this year.

New and Old Things I’m Practicing This Year

New to Me Things

First: the new to me things:

Use things I already own. Like papers, books, unused journals, old pillows. I just had to get organized to do this. I have drawers filled with notepads, shelves of unread books, boxes of faded pillows and blankets and dishes. I’m going to use them, read them, repurpose them, or donate them. I know many of you are much better at this than I am. I’m learning.
Add more traditional, historical prayers to my devotional time. I’ve been more of a free-form pray-er in my morning devotional time. I’m not changing that, but I am adding classic prayers to this time. The Lord’s Prayer. The Apostle’s Creed, Luther’s Morning Prayer. I’m actually following Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller’s Devotional Challenge. You can watch his short introductory video, if you’re interested. I’ll definitely be sharing more about this practice in the months to come. It’s good.
Listen to more music. I love music, all kinds of music, but I’ve forgotten this and replaced it with audio books (lots!) and podcasts. I’m not going to quit those, no-sir-ee. But I am going to make a point to play more music, to sing, to dance, and just listen and stare out the window and praise God for the gift of music.

Old Things

These old things are always on my radar. I water them, and they are firmly planted.

Reading through the Bible. This is separate from any Bible study we may be doing at church. I’m currently using this devotional guide to reading through the Bible in one year. It’s good.
Moving every single day. I’m not trying to run a marathon or even briskly walk a 5K. Nope. Just moving. Stretching. Getting outside for fresh air. Parking the car far away from the store. I’ll soon join the ranks of bionic women (hip), and so I don’t take even a simple walk for granted now. In another month or so, I’ll be moving a whole lot more.
Writing daily. It’s not always a lot. One hundred words some days. Other times, more than two thousand. Just depends. But it’s like drinking water. It keeps me mentally hydrated. I am working on the messy second draft of my novel, rearranging chapters, rounding out characters, and changing names. All sorts of fun things. The hard part is that the fiction-writing doesn’t connect me with readers. Hence, the blog and monthly newsletters.

If you haven’t taken time to ponder the year ahead, maybe choosing some new and old things to practice this year will help.

If you’re looking for more guidance on goal-setting, wander over to my goal-setting series: