Reflecting on our 2025 activities goes beyond whether we met a goal; it is learning extracted from our experiences.
Immeasurable is OK
We are instructed to set goals that we can objectively measure – how many, how far, etc., but some goals do not work that way. How do you measure a relationship’s increase in love? In this case, the answer is establishing a process that, if done, cannot help but bring you toward your objective.
For romantic partners, it may be monthly date nights. If you share 12 intimate experiences, your relationship inevitably improves, even though it will not eliminate all the ways you annoy each other. My 2025 goal was to increase my spiritual maturity, and I resolved to pray more frequently and more intentionally. The growth wasn’t as apparent as sprouting whiskers on my chin during adolescence, probably more akin to a subtle shift in the depth of my voice.
If you cannot measure it, how do you know you achieved it? You must rely on your intuition, as Justice Potter Stewart did when confronted with the issue of defining “hardcore pornography” (not obscenity). He wrote, “I know it when I see it.” Understand that these goals are measured on a spectrum. My friends say I still have the spiritual maturity of a thirteen-year-old who loves fart jokes.
Some say the process is the goal and improvement is the result. This interpretation is fine as long as it does not divert your attention from the purpose and convert the process into a check-the-box obligation. I still remember Sister Jean warning me in the second grade, “Michael went to church every Sunday and to hell for what he did on Monday.”
Which of your difficult-to-measure goals needs a process that yields inevitable progress?
Die Cast?
We believe some characteristics are so ingrained that they cannot be changed. One of those things for me was poor sleep. Besides eating and going to the bathroom, I could not have a more deep-seated habit than sleeping insufficiently. Even as a child and teen, I never slept in, always arising before the sun.
While it seemed like an impossible task to get out of my well-worn rut, I knew improvement would be worthwhile, and I committed to acting. I learned a few tips about sleeping better, implemented a couple of good practices, and started tracking my performance. Although I did not transform from a vampire into Sleeping Beauty, I changed course and am now an adequate sleeper on the path to becoming a good one.
Have you surrendered an area in your life that needs belief and disciplined action?
Something New
Hopefully, 2025 required learning a new skill or using one more fully, or included an accomplishment you did not think you could do or were afraid to do. These tasks require growth, prove you can overcome self-limiting beliefs, and build confidence for your next goal.
Did you obtain your Series 6 License, deliver a speech before 1,000 eyes, run your first marathon, move to Rotterdam, or leave your cubicle to become a pilot? Your stretch goal may not generate ten thousand likes on Instagram; perhaps you “merely” keep a promise to yourself to work out three times per week, something you had never done before.
Unless this is your first time reading 52 Steps Forward, you know I accomplished something in 2025 I previously thought unlikely – publishing my book. For me, launching the book empowers me to set a more ambitious marketing goal. I want to share The Wandering Worshipper’s message with 10,000 people by the end of this year.
What do you do with your newfound ability, or how will you use the confidence gained from 2025’s limit-busting accomplishment?
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Ruminate on these questions, and next week we will continue exploring.
