I use to think I needed a list of new years resolutions in order to have a meaningful and productive year. But I quickly realized New Year’s resolutions meant absolutely nothing without any action behind them. A list of goals is just a list without the writer behind the wheel of it. For so many years I’ve been stuck in the same reality, repeating the same mistakes, just simply trying to survive. However, these last two years have given me the drive and push I needed to change and survive the year 2023. If you want to survive 2023 or rather enjoy it, here’s Five Simple & Realistic Ways to do so,

Stay true to yourself & your values
Walk the path God is leading you on
Do what makes you happy
Be consistent in everything you do
Don’t allow excuses/distractions to keep you stagnant

Stay True To Yourself & Your Values

The number one rule of life is to always be authentic! Authenticity is what attracts the right people to you. We were not put on this earth to be exactly like one another. Apart of living is being who you are no matter what room you walk into. If you can’t be yourself in the place you are standing in, then walk away and go where you are welcomed. You are not living to please others and quite frankly you won’t be able to please everyone. This is why it’s important to stay true to who you are and the people that need to see/hear you, will. Standing apart from others makes you unique. Don’t allow what’s trendy to get in the way of what feels right to you. Be you no matter where you are and no matter who’s in front of you. Imagine pretending to be something your not, people will eventually notice and call you out. You are you for a reason, God makes no mistakes. Be honest with yourself and most importantly be honest with the people you attract. Do not water yourself down to make others comfortable. Authenticity wins every time!

Walk The Path That God Is Leading You On

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‬‬

“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ ‭‬‬

I’ve always been one to create a plan and then figure out a way to accomplish that plan, but it never quite works out for me. The reason why is because that wasn’t God’s plan! We all like to think that what we want is what God is leading us to do, but sometimes we’re wrong. Don’t get me wrong if God placed something on your heart, it’s your duty to follow through with it! However, if it’s something you solely want for yourself it may not always work out. This isn’t because you don’t deserve it or you aren’t qualified for that something, it simply means it’s not what God has planned for you. When God places a calling on our lives there’s nothing that can get in the way of that calling, accept us! Sometimes we get in our own way and it’s because we want something different than what God wants. We find ourselves fighting between our fleshy desires and our spiritual gifts. We can fight all we want but eventually, we have to choose God or our worldly desires. Choosing the path of righteousness calls us to be obedient to what Jesus Christ is asking of us. This is why it’s important to walk the path God is calling us on. Yes, it will be hard! Yes, it will be challenging! But at the end of that path is all the fruits of our labor (house, car, money, family, marriage, career, etc)waiting for us. Submitting to what Jesus wants is not easy, but in life, nothing worth having comes easy. You have two options take the easy road(the path of destruction) or take the hard road( the path of salvation.) We all want to live a life in our comfort zone but if you want something you’ve never had you have to do something you’ve never done, and that requires pure obedience. I am not perfect and I won’t act as if I’ve always chosen the correct path because I haven’t, but this season of my life I’ve decided to be obedient and walk the path Jesus Christ is leading me on. We are living in different times and it’s so important now more than ever to take the path God is leading you on. Always remember you are not alone on your journey God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are beside you every step of the way but you have to call on to them! Don’t be afraid to step out on Faith if God placed it on your heart then don’t be afraid to start!

Do What Makes You Happy

You know that dead-end job you’ve given your all to, it’s time to let it go. As survivors, we naturally want to hold on to things because we’re too afraid to step out on Faith. However, when something is taking more than you can give, it’s time to let it go. Why continue to hold on to something that’s causing you pain or holding you back from something bigger? When God says move it’s time to move. Happiness is dependent on you and your actions. If you want to be happy then do what makes you happy. Everything is always easier said than done, but if you don’t make yourself happy then who will? Happiness starts within, if you are unhappy internally then you’ll be unhappy physically as well. Do what makes you HAPPY! Life is too short and time waits for no one.

Be Consistent In Everything You Do

Consistency is key to a successful life. If you’re wondering why everything you’ve tried you failed at, take a look in the mirror it’s, you! You have to be willing to accept everything that comes with following your dreams. That includes the highs/lows. The good/bad. If something goes wrong and you give up every time, then that’s your reason for failure. It’s not because you weren’t qualified or you couldn’t do what you were doing, you simply gave up. You have to be consistent with everything and results will follow. I’m speaking to myself as well when I say this because my failure is also due to my inconsistency. Every time I failed, or rather every time I didn’t receive the results I wanted, I gave up! I threw in the towel each time. When I tried again it got even harder because now I’m starting over and having to put more time and effort into my dreams because of my inconsistency. I don’t know who needs to hear this but failure eventually leads to success. But when you fail you have to be willing to get back up and try again. You cannot let failure defeat you instead let it mold you into a stronger person than you were before. The more you allow failure to be your motivator the easier things will begin to happen for you. But again you have to stay consistent. Consistency will win every time!

Don’t Allow Excuses/Distractions to Keep You Stagnant

Excuses have always been my biggest reason for why I couldn’t do a lot of things and each time I came up with an excuse I pulled myself two steps backwards. I used excuses as a crutch to keep myself standing still. Instead of moving when God said to move, I froze like a thief in the night and then I’d use an excuse as to why. Sometimes the person holding us back is ourselves. When we continue to indulge in distractions and excuses for why we can’t do something or stay committed to something we hold ourselves back from the things we want the most. I don’t know about you all, but I got so tired of being in the same place for so many years it was mentally exhausting. I had to be honest with myself and say “Hey it’s time to put the excuses and distractions to rest!” If I wanted to live a meaningful life or rather the life that made me happy I needed to move! You will never prosper so long as you continue to make excuses for everything bad in your life. The bad thing in your life is yourself because you keep placing blame where it doesn’t belong. Be honest with yourself about how you spend your time because most of us have the time to work on our dreams but choose not to because we lack discipline. If you want to survive 2023 then get moving! Fill your own gas tank and don’t allow anything/anyone to stop you. If you want something so badly you just do it. You don’t think about how hard it’s going to be, you just do it anyway!

It’s not about how bad you want it it’s about how hard your willing to work for it

In Conclusion

When it comes to surviving you have to be willing to do what is necessary in order to live. I certainly don’t mean doing ungodly things but in fact, things that make you happy and are pleasing to God. If you want to survive another year start by making sure you are internally happy! You shouldn’t be living life to survive you should be living life to experience it! Don’t allow 2023 to pass you by. You have everything you need to do the things you love. This is your breakthrough year, but your first step is to MOVE! Take the first step and the rest will be history. Do what you love and love what you do. Your life is a result of what you do so get to WORK!