4 Key Strategies to Finishing The Year Strong

As I sit in my office and reflect over all of the ups and downs of 2011 I am so grateful for each experience. I am so grateful that we serve a God that gives us the instructions we need to succeed in building up his kingdom here on earth.
I know that this year you may have had some bumps in the road; some of your plans didn’t come to fruition, you may have missed some opportunities, or you’ve missed the mark for your financial goals. However, I encourage you to finish strong.

I am reminded of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 where he admonishes us to run this race called life in a deliberate manner. Paul gives us four key strategies in finishing strong every time.

1.You will finish every time if you start and stay in purpose. Make a decision that you will finish and know what the end result looks like.

2.You will finish strong every time if you are properly proportioned: Another word used was temperate. A good runner is perfectly aligned and in balance:
a.His mind – his thoughts are positive and lead him into his goal.
b.His actions – his daily actions propel him toward his goal.
c.His spirit – postures him for his goal.
d.Mentally – He sees himself already obtaining the goal.
e.Physically - He trains his body to line up with his thoughts. He is completely aligned.
f.Spiritually he is alignment.
g.Affirmation without action leads to delusion, and action without affirmation leads to frustration. You can’t have one without the other.

3.You will finish strong every time if you run with passion. It is your passion which will cause you to fight. It will cause you to fight fear, fight nay-sayers, and fight internal desires to quit and go home. It’s inevitable that you may get tired, become scared, and have people who hate you but you must run anyway. Passion allows you to keep going when everything around you says stop.

4.You must always run with precision. A good runner doesn’t necessary run fast, but each move is calculated, well thought-out and moves him closer to his goal.
a.A good runner runs. It is impossible to obtain the goal thinking about it, praying about, and talking about it. You must run!
b.Unlike Forrest Gump, a good runner is precise. Each action, each stride is well thought-out, carefully planned and strategic. He may not be fast, but he is precise. Resist the temptation to hurry, to work for the sake of working, to check things off the list just to say it is done.

Take your time, make every action deliberate, choose every word carefully, align yourself strategically. Finish by design, not default.

Expansion in Action Assignment

1.Get clear on what finishing strong in 2011 will look like. What will you have accomplished?
2.Get your mind, body, and spirit in alignment with the end results.
3.Run with passion, faith, and know that God is with you every step of the way!