Week #50 (Dec.10-16, 2018)

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Week #50 (Dec.10-16, 2018) - New Year's Resolutions - Start TODAY!

We’re getting to that point in the year when many simultaneously feel hope and shame. Hope of a better year with better habits, and shame at our failure to achieve such results in the soon-ending current year. Those New Year’s resolutions gave us a vibrant start to 2018, and perhaps we endured for a month or two, more if we were extra motivated. But for most of us, those resolutions soon became reminders of yet another failed commitment. Remember those running shoes you bought? Or what about that cookbook? But ALAS! A new year dawns and things WILL be different this time!……Sure! OK! 🙄While I can’t speak for you, here’s my take. I personally gave up on New Year’s resolutions some years ago, in favour of goals and checkpoints.On the one hand, I understand the excitement of a new year as it marks a new start, a refresh button on life if you will. So with the surrounding excitement, it’s only logical that much of that would diffuse internally. We are creatures of our environment after all.But on the most basic level, the only thing “new” about a new year is the word “new”. On the hands of time, it's simply another day. The midnight transfer of power from December 31 to January 1 is no different from that of May 17 to May 18. Nor any different from August 27 to 28. I mean yes, societally we have determined that December 31 marks the end of the calendar warranting a restart the following day. But in actuality, it’s just another day.This might sound depressing, but as soon as this truth (bland as it is) hit me, I found it quite liberating. I realized I don’t have to wait for some mystical power on January 1 to carry me along towards my dreams, goals, and aspirations. Every new day is as special as every new year.That means everyday you can start working towards that thing. And if you failed yesterday or last week, you can start again TODAY. See how liberating it is?So several years ago, I ditched my resolutions and committed to goals with checkpoints. Two of my goals in recent years include;

• Exercise more (cliché I know 😝)

• Be more consistent in reading my Bible

I have more goals of course, but I listed these specific ones for the purpose of illustrating this “Start Today” mentality.I’ve been on the workout train on&off for probably the past 3 years. I started 2016 determined to be more active. I lasted about 3 months, then didn’t lift another weight for probably a year and a half 😂. This year (2018), I wanted to get back into it, but didn’t put pressure on myself to begin on January 1. I needed to mentally get to the space where I was ready to commit to a long term regimen. I needed conviction, not motivation. I thought about it, thought about it, thought about it some more, then randomly one day in April I started. I’ve been consistent ever since. You could say my “2018 New Years Resolution” started in April (a time most people fall off the wagon). But I was able to start and sustain it not because of some new year spunk, but because it was something I needed and wanted to do.It’s a similar situation with reading my Bible. This is a ongoing challenge for me, as I’m sure it is for many Christians. I realized that I can get very lazy with this discipline and rely instead on sermons (or short devotionals) to fuel me. Sermons are a great resource especially when you’re feeling spiritually dry. It’s great to hear an outside voice remind you of God’s word. But for me, I did this so long that when I looked back, it had been LITERALLY months since I cracked the spine of my Bible (or opened the Bible app). Even while at church, I would listen but seldom follow along with the actual scriptures.There’s nothing wrong with sermons, or devotionals but I don’t think God intended for this to be our primary means of intaking his word. I believe they are to be supplemental. Even if the message was accurately translated, it is a distinctly different experience hearing from the messenger than hearing from the King directly. I hadn’t heard directly from the King in months and it was affecting me.I knew that moving into 2019 and onward, this couldn’t continue. So on December 1, I picked up my Bible and committed to reading a chapter every single day for at least 30 Days. No commentaries, No devotionals, No external resources. Just me, the Bible and God. Again these external resources can be helpful, but ultimately they are still intermediaries between you and what God himself has said in His word. And in this season I NEED to hear directly from God himself. Fourteen days in, so far so good. Any sermons I listen to these days is purely supplemental. So here you could say my “2019 New Years Resolution” started on December 1 2018. FYI, I didn’t schedule December 1 as some special day. I woke up that day and decided to begin that day because of a deep conviction I had developed.Ultimately, this idea of conviction producing immediate and lasting action has broad applications because, the reality is, all new things eventually fade, along with the initial excitement that attended them. This is why the emotional frenzy at the beginning of anything, be it a new year, new job, new marriage, etc., will never be enough to carry you through to the finish line. The initial buzz will inevitably fade. What we need is a deep conviction that this thing is so important, we can delay no longer. Furthermore, this thing is worth fighting for, even when giving up seems easier. You have to really believe that Kanye West line that goes,“When it feel like livin's harder than dyin' // For me givin' up's way harder than tryin’”.Only with that kind of conviction will you achieve what you’re aiming at. Because really it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish.So fortify your convictions, ditch your list, set your goals and start today!Until next week, #KnowItsRealP.S. Do you agree or disagree? Do you use New Year's resolutions or are you more goal-oriented? What are your resolutions/goals for 2019?

MUSIC: Classics

I've been making music for more than a few years. So I'm highlighting some classic records you may or may not know about. These are fan favourites, so enjoy. This week, is the summery vibe, "That Fire". My friend Angie Rose out of NYC reached out to me with this one. We blended her Puerto Rican flavour with my Nigerian sauce and created something truly special. Available on all platforms!

MUSIC: The Latest

The official remix project to the original "XXY". This project features 6 remixes including 2 of the uber popular "Stay" with production from UK powerhouses, HXLY KXSS, and WYLD, and US-based Quinten Coblentz. The same songs you already know and love, re-imaginged!

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