New Year Ramblings

Happy New Year! I hope 2009 will be a purpose-filled and
productive year for you. Hoping, however won't get the job. Purpose and productivity are never accidents. They occur through focused and specific actions that emanate from a vision of what you want to achieve. Purposeful action is just that -- action -- and is never the result of passive wishing or praying. So with that in mind, I hope you will allow me to think out loud as to what kind of 2009 I intend to have, Lord willing.

HARD WORK

I was reflecting the other day on a verse that has impacted my life for the last 25 years. It is found in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." I remember reading an anonymous quote a few years ago that stated, "There are many people who want to change the world who don't know what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon," In other words, wishful thinking won't impact the world unless the thinking translate into action and hard work.

So I have set these goals and objectives for 2009. Have you set yours yet? If not, there's still plenty of time. That's what January and rainy or snowy Sunday afternoons are for.

2009 GOALS

By God's grace and with His help, in 2009 I will:
Improve communication with my audience through Facebook (I already have a page), my website (check out my "Latest New" section on my homepage), my blog and a service called Twitter (where I am @johnstanko).
Delegate more of my work to a team of interested people in the U.S and around the world.
Publish The Faith Files, Volume 2.
Have 90% of my classwork for my Doctor of Ministry completed, including my ministry project.
Resume broadcasting on radio and begin on television.
Hold more leadership training sessions here in my hometown.
Establish a regular savings plan (I have the figure established).
Read 50 books (I finished 54 in 2008).
Resume teaching college classes (I have two scheduled for the coming term).
Work smarter, not harder.
Establish better and more regular streams of revenue from books, training sessions and courses I have written and developed over the years.

I won't bore you with all the specifics of those 11 objectives but I have them. I hope to do these in partnership with my local church, but if that doesn't work out, I am prepared to do them on my own time. So what will you accomplish in 2009? Why not take a moment and share at least one goal for 2009 with the rest of my readers on the site where this entry is posted? Help create a wave of goals from around the world that will stimulate even my most casual reader to take action on a dream today.

From "The Monday Memo from John Stanko"