I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions a long time ago. This year, to kick off the new decade, I thought I’d try something new. I’ve picked five keywords to help govern my actions throughout the coming year. They’ll serve as sort of a measuring stick or point of reference for everything I do in 2010. The keywords for my life in 2010 are: Grace, Give, Love, Learn, Teach.

Keyword #1: Grace
I want to give more grace to people and situations in the coming year. I tend to run on the short side of patience, flying off the handle at silly little things like traffic, customer service, etc. In the last line of “Diary of a Country Priest” by George Bernanos it reads: ”Whatever happens, all is grace.” I want that to be my motto, a mantra. I certainly depend on God’s grace and the grace of others all the time, so I want to be able to give grace and be gracious in all situations more than ever. I want to give more grace.

Keyword #2: Give
I love to give. Not just money, but also my time and talents. I love it so much, that sometimes I have to reign myself in, in order to do actual work that pays the bills. I just believe that living a life of giving is best. I’ve determined to read a book titled “Go Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It caught my eye at the local bookstore recently. I love books and listen to a lot of them instead of reading them. I think this one I definitely want to read. If we all gave a little more, the world would look totally different than it does right now. Our communities would not be in such dire need. Local non-profits could expand rather than reduce the help they’re able to supply. Even in these tougher economic times, I have been determined to give. We give to our local church. I give time and pro bono work to a few local organizations I believe in. I even give great tips whenever I eat out… even if the service or the food isn’t so stellar. I try to point out to my boys when and how I give, so they’ll learn to be givers and have open hands and open hearts. I want to give more.

Keyword #3: Love
I know, lots of people are jaded and don’t believe that love makes the world go ’round. I do. I also believe God is love. Love is an incredible thing to give and receive. I love my wife. I love my three incredible boys. I love my church, my friends, where I live, and what I do. I love food, but that is now being tempered with my  love of working out. I want to give more love this year than ever before. Why? Because there should be more love out there in the world and my community. This is a huge keyword for me this year. I want everything I do to have love in it. I want to grow a bigger heart for those in need. I want to have more compassion and understanding. I’m going to ask God to give me opportunities to love – even the unlovable. He’s good at answering those kinds of prayers. I hope I’m ready. The term love is often so casually used, that it becomes meaningless. I want to make it mean something again in my marriage, my relationship with my boys and in business. I want my clients to see the passion I have for what I do, because I truly love what I do. I want them to love working with me and see work and results that they’ll love. In order for my wife and three boys to find more love from me, I’ll need to give more time. Everyone should know that kids spell love as T-I-M-E. If not, learn that really quick and apply it! I want to love more.

Keyword #4: Learn
A favorite author of mine, John C. Maxwell has said there are two types of people in the world: the Learner and the Learned. I want to always be the learner because the learn-ed “knows it all” – they’re sometimes those teachers or professors with tenure at high schools and universities (you’ve probably come across those types in school), or the boss who’s stuck in processes and trends from a few decades back. Instead, I want to be progressive. I want the world to be my classroom and every situation and opportunity to be a teachable moment. I love learning new things. I scour the Internet for news and the latest, greatest gadget, social media tool, etc. I’m always learning & filling up the tank of knowledge. This year I want to ramp that up even more and hopefully jump into an MBA program that will lead to a PhD. I want to learn some new classical pieces on the piano. I want to learn the art of screen printing. I want to learn to make a few new dishes in the kitchen. I want to learn from my mistakes so the effort and time won’t be completely wasted. I want to learn more.

Keyword #5: Teach
I love seeing the light bulb go on when someone learns something new. I’ve had many opportunities to teach at vocational/technical schools in Oklahoma. I’ve facilitated workshops and given presentation at seminars. I love teaching. In fact, the first bachelor’s degree I worked on at the University of Oklahoma was for vocal music education. I had an incredible time doing my student teaching. Things just worked out for me to write software and end up doing lots of creative work instead. I think for 2010, I’d really love to have an opportunity to teach something somewhere. I’m passionate about creativity and design. I love discussing psychology, learning styles and personality. So, perhaps there could be an opportunity to teach this year. I’ll definitely have the chance to teach through my business. Not only educating clients and advising them about their creative and advertising needs, but with the intern I’ll have. Hopefully there’ll be a new employee too, so there will be several opportunities to invest in people, teaching them what I know and most likely learning even more from them. I hope that as a worship leader, I can invest in the musicianship and lives of the great musicians and singers we have at church. I want to teach my boys lots of things, and in order to to that, I’ll need to spend more time with them. Mentoring people and teaching them what I know is something I love to do. I’m going to work hard this year to be available to teach whenever the opportunity presents itself. I want to teach more.

So there it is. No resolutions, just keywords that I can refer to and gauge my actions and life by these next 365 days. If you don’t have any resolutions and don’t plan to make them, perhaps selecting a handful of keywords would work for you. I’m looking forward to 2010 and the great things that can happen this next year. I pray that every person who had a not-so-great 2009, will have an outstanding 2010. I believe a lot of the outcome is up to us. Granted, things happen that are beyond our control, but our attitudes, reactions and choices can truly make or break our year. Let’s work smarter and not harder. Let’s give more than we take. Let’s learn something new. Let’s grow in grace and wisdom. Let’s take on this new year and make it something special. Happy new decade and Happy New Year!

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