Consider January a Trial Month

Welcome to a new year, friends! Now, imagine this with me:

You love goals, and you're committed to using your PowerSheets® goal planner as the tool that it is.

You love this community and want to embrace the idea of progress, not perfection, and growing slowly, and taking small steps consistently... but there's still a part of you that just wants to get it right from the start—that hesitates to put pen to paper on that pristine Tending List until you have it all figured out. (The ideal goals, the healthiest habits, the curated weekly routines!)

You want to take the pressure off, but you're just not sure how.

Friend, lean in. We've been there. We are there! And here's a trick we've learned over time: let January be a trial month. 

Consider January your warm-up for an incredible year of progress pointing toward what matters in the big picture. Let yourself off the hook for having it all figured out by January 1 and instead, officially declare January your month to figure it out: to experiment, to dabble, to tweak, to pivot. Instead of committing to a goal for the entirety of the year before trying it out, try getting to know one another first! Doesn't that make more sense? (And already feel so good?! Can you feel your shoulders coming down from around your ears?)

Whether or not you know what goals you want to achieve by the end of the year, you know what matters in the big picture. So, on January's Tending List, give yourself permission to simply try some things out. Throw some spaghetti at the wall!

For example:

• Before committing to a year of yoga classes, try going for four weeks in a row to see if you like them.
• Before committing to reading 100 books this year, see if you can complete nine this month—and if you like the pace.
• Before committing to spending 1000 hours outside, see if you can hit 85 this month—and if tracking your sunshine hours feels life-giving.
• Before committing to a yearlong Bible reading plan, tell yourself it's just for this month and see what you think.
• Before committing to a wake-up time of 6am, try it for a week or two and see how it affects your mood, energy, and productivity.

If you do this—if you agree to consider January a trial month—we think that by the time the 31st rolls around, you'll feel clear not only on what matters, but on how to live it out. You'll feel confident in the path ahead and proud of yourself for taking the time to make smart decisions—instead of hurtling toward an uncertain destination to meet an arbitrary deadline. You'll be more likely to stick with—and succeed at!—the goals and habits you eventually settle on.

Your goals are worth taking the time to get right. A year—or even a season!—is a long time to commit to something that's not serving you in the best way possible. So, let's not do that. Let's make wise choices about what to pursue and how to pursue it, and let's make 2025 the year we uncover what matters, break it down, and live it out—with joy!