At the end of last year, I ordered Jesse Itzler's Big A## Calendar. Itzler suggests that one use the giant calendar and small Post-it notes that come with it to plan things to keep us focused and driven in the new year.
Big and small adventures and projects and physical challenges. I received the calendar and immediately put it up on my bedroom wall. Other than my bed, it's now the biggest thing in there. For days, I stood and stared at that blank monstrosity, wondering, what on earth do I post on that thing? What am I going to include on that Big A## Calendar to keep me focused and driven this year? All the while, I kept hearing God tell me, your challenge in life isn't that you aren't driven, it's your refusal to let go of the things that keep derailing you. Then, I heard David Goggins interviewed on a podcast. Goggins said what is standing in our way of discovering who we truly are, of becoming who we are truly meant to be, are the things we are unwilling to sacrifice. Goggins said our challenge isn't that we don't know where to go, we are simply unwilling to let go of the things that keep us from getting there. Yep. A massive truth bomb right there. It became instantly clear to me, that although that calendar was designed for one purpose, it was meant for something very different for me. I don't know about you, but one of the easiest answers in life to come up with is to the question, what am I doing, that I could choose to stop doing today, and it would immediately increase my chances of getting where I want to go or being who I want to be? For me, the problem has NEVER been NOT knowing the answer to that question. It's been having the courage, the guts, the willpower, the faith - all of that - to finally let those things go. So, I wrote 3 things I am letting go of this year. What those three things are isn't important to this conversation; we all have very different answers when we ask ourselves the letting go question. But I committed to fully let those three things go in 2024. So back to the calendar... Every night before I go to bed, if I indeed let those 3 things go that day, I put a green Post-it note on that day. A green Post-it to declare victory over the day. My goal is to have a green calendar at the end of 2024, declaring victory over my year. I am not planning for any red Post-it days, but in the event there is one, I have committed to offer myself grace in advance. Committed grace and challenged myself to refuse to let a red day become a pattern of red. My challenge in life hasn't been red days, it's been red days turning into red weeks. And months.... In his New Year sermon, Steven Furtick challenged the congregation, make a shift. Shift from dreaming about "one day when" and start pursuing one day wins. So far this year, as it relates to the three things I've committed to letting go of, it has been all green. Every day has been a win. It's a great way to go to bed each night, feeling victorious. It's a great way to go to bed each night, being reminded that I can do hard things. It's a great way to wake up each morning, taking notice of all the one day wins I've had already this year. And in an unexpected way, marking these one day wins on my calendar has given me far more hope about my future than anything I've ever written into my future. Because often, what's standing in the way of our future isn't the lack of a vision, it's the unwillingness to let go of the things that keep derailing it. It's the lack of one day wins. So that's my plan for me this year, and it's my hope for you. That at the end of this year, we all find a way to have calendars filled with green. Because as important as planning what we want to do is, finding the strength to quit doing the things we don't want to do might prove to be our best plan ever. It might just turn out to be our biggest win.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
November 2024
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