What's New In You?

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is always something exciting about seeing something brand new. Whether it is a brand new baby, a brand new car, or as we celebrate today -- a brand new year. When something is so new, all of the possibilities of greatness are on display. There seems to be a limitless stream of thoughts and visions that run through our head. But unfortunately, as most of us have experienced the newness and the excitement it brings tends to fade away -- and often very quickly. Why?

After all, it is a brand new day and a brand new year. What can possibly get in the way? How about the same old you? Same thoughts. Same fears. Same excuses. Same baggage. Same relationships. Same old you. But then again, you already knew that didn't you? You've lived with yourself long enough to know how true this really is. The question is what will you do with it?

It is difficult to truly fathom the remarkable and even truly desired change we want to see if we cast its possibilities against what we are today. Quite simply, if we want our circumstances to change, we must change. In a prior post, Change -- An Inside Job, we talked about how the heart of the problem is that the heart is the problem. If we change our heart, we change our thoughts, our perceptions, our fears, our relationships, and most importantly we make room for the newness we seek.

"And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." -- Mark 2:22.

As this verse suggests, it is impossible to be filled with something new and alive if we are pouring it into an old, damaged, corrupt vessel. In the end, our best efforts are wasted and poured out on the ground. So, doesn't it make sense to, as Emerson says, write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year? Renew your heart and you've renewed your wineskin. How?

The truth is that if you do the same thing you've always done, you'll get the same thing you've always gotten -- at least to some predictable degree. However, what we do is controlled by the way we think. So, the real change has to come there -- in our thinker. But to change what comes out, we need to change what goes in. As, the old computer saying goes, garbage in, garbage out.

Make a decision today, this first day of the year that you will change what goes into your thinker. Make a decision to read more. Did you know that reading 15 minutes a day allows you to finish the average book in 30 days? That means by this time next year, you will have read 12 new books!

While on your daily commute, make a decision to shut off the radio and listen to quality CDs that are intended to give you the self-directed education that can change your thinking and change your life. Give it 30 days and it will become a habit that will increase your knowledge and your personal fulfillment. LIFE offers some great leadership and personal development material and I urge you to take a look. You may even want to consider taking the Mental Fitness Challenge to give yourself a jump-start in the most critical areas of your life.

Make a decision to change your relationships and surroundings by seeking out those people who are of like-mind that they may hold you accountable to yourself and the change you mutually seek. I'm thankful to be in just such a community of leaders and coaches that are committed to helping others live the life they've always wanted.

It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. We can help. Write it on your heart!