2010 A New Year

2010! I can’t believe we are here, the beginning of another New Year. As I look back over 2009 I think what have done, what have I accomplished, have I left a mark for good on the year.

With this New Year I have the opportunity to do better. I can try a little harder to do all the wonderful things that I want to do and have not yet been able to accomplish. I can re-evaluate those goals I set last year and have not yet accomplished. I always set a few new year’s resolutions and I get started on making the changes but, by the end of the year I always look back and think why didn’t I work harder, why didn’t I do more and even why did I stop.

Wanting to change or become better is not enough, it is just wishing for change if we don’t do something about it. This is what I have done in the past. I want to change, it was important to make the change, I would be a much better person if I made the change but really it was just a wish because I wasn’t willing to do all that was needed to make it happen. It takes work sometimes a lot of work to make the changes we need to make. It takes setting a goal, deciding what you want to do or change in your life and then writing it down. If you don’t write it down you will forget about it. We must be committed to our new goal or we may deviate from the course and go back to the easy life that we have already been living. Being successful will take a lot of work maybe even some sacrifice, a price payed to make the change.

President Monson said:
“No plan. No object. No goal. The road to anywhere is the road to nowhere, and the road to nowhere leads to dreams sacrificed, opportunities squandered, and a life unfulfilled.”
(Conference Oct. 1976)

In a Young Womans lesson that I gave last week it teaches that we need to do four things to be successful with the goals we set.



• EVALUATE
o Make a list of the things you would like to know, qualities and abilities you would like to develop, and things you want to accomplish in your life.
 “To live righteous lives and accomplish the purpose of our creation, we must constantly review the past, determine our present status, and set goals for the future. Without this process there is little chance of reaching one’s objectives” (O. Leslie Stone, Conference, April 1978)
• PLAN
o Write down the goal and how you plan to reach it. (A goal not written down is merely a wish). Choose someone you can report your progress to or someone you can work with. It always helps to have someone that is aware of what you are trying to do.
• ACT
o Do whatever it takes to succeed. Work hard and never give up
• REPORT
o It is important to report to someone, a parent, spouse, friend, even Heavenly Father on your progress.
o
Never give up and when one goal is accomplished start on a new one.


W ork
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President Thomas S Monson