4 Things I’m Focusing on to Close The Year Strong

Hey Friend!

Can you believe that 2024 is almost over? We close the year in just a few weeks. What is happening?

The beginning of a new year is always exciting. It’s like a blank canvas — a renewed opportunity to set goals that align with God’s purpose for our lives. But did you know that God’s Word tells us that an end is actually better than the beginning?

“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” – Ecclesiastes 7:8

How does this relate to closing the year and prepping for 2025? Let’s break it down! 

Solomon explains that true wisdom comes from adversity and how we respond to it. If we walk through the lows with Christ and let Him guide us through those moments, we grow in God’s wisdom and learn to lean on Him in the lows and the highs of life. 

If we’re leaning on God in our highs and lows, shouldn’t we also let Him guide us as we create goals, dreams, and visions for our lives?

As we prepare to close the year, let’s prayerfully plan for 2025. Before we dive in, I have to tell you about my Horacio planner and how much I love it.

I bought my first one about four or five years ago and fell in love with them! These planners have become a time capsule I pour into and save year after year.

Every year in Q4, I close the year by creating a core plan for the next year, and I use my Horacio planner to do that. 

Head to Horacio Printing and enter code STEF20 at checkout for your discount.

So, let’s close the year strong and make the most of our blank canvas by creating a roadmap for 2025 that aligns with God’s vision and plans for us!

Tip 1 to Close the Year Strong: Dream and Have a Vision

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

We all have dreams or visions of how we hope life goes, but God also has dreams for us that are bigger than we could ever comprehend. The Bible reminds us so many times that God’s dreams for us are more significant than we could ever imagine.

It’s critically important that we dream. God’s word tells us to dream as long as we align with God’s purpose and will. When we open our eyes and ears to the Lord’s direction, He motivates us to keep pressing.

I begin every year by dreaming. I create a vision board on my Horacio planner’s first and second pages. My vision board includes tactical and material goals, but most of this board is scriptures that I want to live by.

My board contains verses about the type of mother I want to be, how I want to present myself as a wife, and verses that will guide me when I’ve gone astray. And of course, there are photos of me on mountain bikes with my babies because you know your girl loves a mountain bike ride. 

It has all kinds of things about who I want to become, how I want to live, and pillars of vision about who God is crafting me to be.

I have to grow into those visions of who I can be, and I’m still human. I will fail and falter, but when I do, I want to have this vision board and these pages to refer to all year long.

Creating Your Vision Board

Approach your vision boards prayerfully, grounding them in biblical truth. This will help ensure your dreams and goals align with God’s purpose for your life.

• Use the “dream planning” section of the Horatio planner. This includes creating a bucket list, a personal growth map, and a “why” page to clarify your goals. Allow God to shape these plans.
• Fill your vision board with photos, words, and symbols that remind you of God’s promises and affirmations that align with your scriptural vision.
• Place your vision board in a spot where you’ll see it regularly. Let it be a constant reminder and encouragement to stay focused on God’s plan.

Tip 2 to Close the Year Strong: Plan with a Purpose

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” – Proverbs 19:21

I take three approaches to purposeful planning:

• I prayerfully seek God’s wisdom.
• I ask Him to align my goals with His purpose
• I avoid massive pipe dreams that I’m never going to achieve

Tangible goals are SO important! Big, massive, unreachable goals set us up for failure. Instead, I create stepping-stone goals so that when I wake up each day, I can say, “How do I get one inch closer to that goal today?”

For example, I have a fitness goal written on my vision board that I haven’t achieved yet, but I am closer now than last December because I have consistently shown up. 

So, as you’re putting your vision board together, I want you to dream beyond what seems possible at the moment because God can exceed expectations through His power and will. This is especially important for those God dreams you guys might have. 

Don’t focus just on the spiritual things you want to grow into. Also, look at physical things you know you need to dream about.

Maybe some of your dreams are to remove some of the different idols in your life or break free of a particular addiction that’s in your life. Write those dreams down. When we write something down, it becomes more realistic that we will attain it, and then it’s something we can pray over intentionally.

Planning with Purpose

• Spend time in God’s Word, seeking His guidance and wisdom for your plans.
• Find scripture that the Lord leads you to in the areas you are focused on.
• As you set goals, pray over them and ask God to align them with His will.
• Break down your bigger dreams into smaller, actionable steps.
• Review your progress throughout the year and remain responsive to God’s leading.

Tip 3 to Close the Year Strong: Evaluate Your Goals

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” – Proverbs 29:18

Whether or not you have a planner or a dream board, you know what your dreams were this year. If you haven’t written them down, take a second and do that because we will evaluate your progress. Consider it a pulse check to see what you might need to recommit to.

We’re going to close the year strong. Don’t wait until January 1. 

Today is a great day to get excited, motivated, and pumped up about your new vision for your life, your new dedication to your health, the restoration of your relationships, the way that you want to parent differently, the addiction that you are deciding to break today in Jesus’ name—whatever it might be.

Aligning Your Dreams with God’s Plans

• Ask God to reveal His plans and purposes for your life. Meditate on scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11 and Proverbs 29:18 to get clarity.
• Include tangible, measurable goals and aspirations for your character and relationship with God. Balance the material and the eternal.
• Revisit your vision board regularly, praying for discernment on what to add, remove, or adjust to keep it current.

Tip 4 to Close the Year Strong: Trust God’s Timing

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

How do we stay motivated while trusting God when we face challenges in achieving our goals? 

We keep our eyes on God’s purpose and continue taking small steps forward, even when progress feels slow. When we dream and cast a vision for where we’re going, we partner with God in purposeful planning. 

When we show up and do our best, it might feel disheartening when our dreams do not come to fruition. Still, Ecclesiastes 3:1 says there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Some seasons are for dreaming, some are for planning, and some are for harvesting the fruits of our hard work, but we have to trust God’s timing in all of it.

There have been seasons when I was toiling and working, working and hustling, and then the Lord said, “Stop and rest.” And it didn’t make sense because I had no money. I didn’t feel like I had earned rest, but I kept hearing, “Rest. Lay it down.”

Maybe you’re in a season where you are working hard to create something instead of trusting that God’s got a better way for you. Or perhaps you’re resting and not taking any action even though you know God’s impressing upon your heart to move, speak, or write. 

So grab your planner, ask God to reveal His dreams for you, and start planning for next year. Believe in God’s dreams for you and write them down. Plan with purpose and abide in Him as you show up to do work that glorifies God.

I pray this blesses you.

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