In less than a week, we’re all going to face another year.

When December 31 turns to January 1, and we say a simultaneous hello and goodbye before hauling ourselves to bed, we will not only face another year, but we’ll face ourselves.

If you haven’t followed through on any of your goals for the year, January 1 may be the first time you’ve faced yourself honestly all year.

You can–we all can do better this year. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Envision the life you want to have at the end of 2023

This differs from the popular “manifesting” you may have seen from coaches across the internet. This is simply envisioning the truth of what you want for yourself. It’s not enough to think about it. You need to write it out in detail. This is step one. Take a moment and write it out. Do it for yourself, your family, your church, or your business, or narrow it down to your health or some other facet of your life.

Mine is something like this: I want the family to be healthy on December 31, 2023. I want to have signed another contract for my job for 2024 and have another 2 books published on Amazon. I want to be finished with all the Spanish units on Duolingo. I want to be more connected with my family and friends.

2. Evaluate what to remove from 2023 to have this outcome

Too many of us work on New Year’s Resolutions by adding new things to the mix. We want to add a workout per day, a job for extra income, add some new habits. Instead of adding extra things, look at the desired outcome and figure out what things in your life may prevent you from achieving that outcome. What things do you do regularly or daily that may make your journey to this particular success more of a struggle? These things can be removed.

My example? I want my family to be healthier, so I can remove some terrible foods from our diets. I can remove dangerous activities if necessary. I want to sign another contract for my work, so I may need to remove some other responsibilities to do my best this year. I want to finish my Spanish course on Duolingo, so I may need to (this may hurt…) some of my other apps that waste my time.

3. Decide what to add to your life in 2023

This one can be tricky. Some things must be added to achieve certain outcomes. You’ll always have the same outcome if you do the same thing.

You will have to add something, but it doesn’t have to be a huge thing to add. If I write 10 minutes per day toward a new title to publish this year, that’s still more than I wrote in 2022. To be stronger, you must add strength training to your life. To be more frugal, you may need to add meal planning or monthly budgeting. If you’re like me and want to be more connected with your family and friends, you may need to add quality time to your schedule. Make some phone calls each week. Send a text on Sabbaths. You can add many things to get your desired outcome. Just be careful not to add too many things at once or make big changes.

4. Multiply the things that will move you toward your desired outcome

If you already do some things that can help you reach your desired outcome, keep doing these things in 2023. If you can, multiply these things. If you want to be stronger and already lift weights once per week, try to strength train 2-3 times a week in 2023. If you already write every day, write more. This one will be easiest for you to identify, but you may accidentally overshoot. Don’t try to do too much too fast.

Remember, if you multiply only 1, you’re still doing more than you did in 2022.

5. Write out your formula and display it

What you have done is created a formula for success. If you remove the things that will prevent your desired outcome, add the things that will support the outcome, and multiply those you’re already doing, you will achieve the life you seek by the end of 2023–or at least move closer toward it.

Here is an example of what this can look like for a church

OUTCOME: to be connected with our community/to be good neighbors

REMOVE: fundraising events that were previously our only interaction with the community but only benefited us.

ADD: door-to-door efforts, gifts, and cards for holidays, and events, work with other organizations and join the ministry task force in the area.

MULTIPLY: opportunities to fellowship (potlucks, game nights, youth group, birthday parties, etc.)

Here is an example of what this can look like for your online ministry

OUTCOME: to gain more online Bible studies

REMOVE: content that does not align with your purpose or niche (Bible truth)

ADD: all types of Bible content to see what works (Bible trivia/facts, Bible verses, Bible promises, Bible studies, etc)

MULTIPLY: the number of posts, the frequency of comments/replies, the invitations and calls to action, and the trending content (reels, video)