Hi everyone! We’ve spent a little over a month with 2018. Now that you’ve had some time to settle in, let’s turn our focus towards making it your best year possible. Maybe you’ve gotten off track, or you aren’t sure where to start. That’s okay. This post is geared towards everyone who wants to make 2018 their best year yet. There are only 3 components to this, but they require a fair amount of explanation. As a result, this will be a multi-part series. Let’s get started!
You’ll need a certain mindset to make this the best year of your life. You have to view your life and time in a different way. I’ll explain that with the following story: Each year I take an international trip to serve a cause, whether it’s helping widows and children, doing construction, or coming to the aid of those less fortunate. One such trip involved going through Haiti in a van with my wife and several others. Haiti is one of the least developed Western countries, so the infrastructure wasn’t great, it was a bumpy ride with heavy traffic and very crowded streets. I’ve been to many dangerous areas of the world, and Haiti isn’t that hazardous in comparison. It doesn’t have many gun owners, either. So I was shocked when we suddenly heard gunshots as we drove.
The gunfire kept getting closer, so we panicked. It was like one of those movies where there’s a loud explosion and everyone takes off, people were running for their lives. The van sped off, but we realized we were going towards the gunfire. The driver then went in reverse in the middle of traffic at maximum speed, trying to get away from the danger. We tried going to a hotel but the security guard and our driver were yelling at each other in a foreign language. Everyone in the van was on their knees with their hands over their heads. My wife and I were praying for our lives. Fortunately, we got through a back alley and made it to a safe area within a few minutes. The gunfire slowly went away. The value in this sort of scenario is in the way it can change your outlook on life. The experience made me think more deeply about several things.
It’s funny what happens when you face a near-death experience, or the perception that your life is in danger. Things seem to move so fast, yet they slow down in a way. You get a chance to think through things in a way that you may not have before.
As the van continued on, I did a LOT of thinking about what was going on in my life. You might’ve experienced something similar, such as a heart condition, health scare, car accident, or near collision. Whatever the cause, it changes your thinking drastically. As we look at how to make 2018 our best year, we should tackle it with the intensity that comes with a life-threatening experience. We need that motivational drive and sense of urgency to live as if this year is our last. These things will make 2018 the best year of our lives. There are three questions we’re going to answer to make this happen, and they’ll give us clear ideas on how to make 2018 beyond amazing.
This concludes the introduction to my blog series on making 2018 the best year of your life. Please join me again for the second installment. Until then, have a better than amazing day!
