Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a great time to evaluate where you are in life, where you’re going, and what you want to accomplish. It’s the perfect time to make plans for the coming year. I want to challenge you to involve the Lord in the process of planning the New Year!   It will go a long way to making it a Happy New Year.  This can be a “Breakthrough Year” for you if you follow just a few helpful steps.

Happy New Year – 4 Simple Steps for a Breakthrough Year

In stead of making “happy New Year” just a phrase why not make it a reality in your life.   I want this to be a breakthrough year for you.   Breakthrough in your relationships, your finances, your job, your health, and every area of your life. Here are 4 simple, but effective steps that will help position you for a a more productive and prosperous year. They will help make this a breakthrough year and truly a “happy new year”.

1. Seek God’s Direction

God has a specific plan and purpose for your life. If you will inquire of Him you will get His direction for the new year. When you set your compass in His direction which is the right direction, you are going to have a greater chance of succeeding.

The Lord told David: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalms 32:8) He told Jeremiah, “Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3) If you will call on the Lord and seek what His direction for the new year is, He will show you and guide you. God knows the beginning from the end! Why not get His counsel? Don’t overlook or skip this step if you want to have a “happy new year”..

2. Think Big &Take the Limits Off

Believe God for the impossible. Too often we limit what God wants to accomplish in our life because we don’t stretch our faith to believe God. Ephesians 3:20 tells us, “Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” To have a “Breakthrough Year” – make no little plans. Make big plans, aim high in faith, hope and work. Include God in the equation. In order for big things to happen this year you need to see them by faith and believe it’s possible. “Nothing is impossible to him that believes” ( Mark 9:23) Henry Ford said, “Whatever you can conceive, you can achieve.” It doesn’t cost any more to dream big than it does to dream little, so why not stretch your faith, take the limits off and think big for a “Breakthrough Year”.

3. Set Goals and Write Them Down.

Habakkuk 2:2 instructs us, “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.” If you “think big”, but don’t make plans and work the plans you just have a dream that stays a dream. Setting goals and writing them down will turn your dreams into vision. Goals identify the target you need to aim for in order to accomplish the vision. They need to be written down. They should be measurable, specific, and have a time frame. For example don’t say to yourself “I need to lose weight,” instead say “I need to drop five pounds in the next 6 months.”

The goals you set should be the things that need to be accomplished in order to fulfill your purpose or vision. Start by writing the most important goal you need to achieve then add to the list and begin to take steps to achieve them. Monitor and evaluate your progress throughout the year and make necessary adjustments along the way. Setting goals and writing them down is a setup to achieving them. This will help you have a “Breakthrough Year”.

4. Be Prepared for Obstacles.

You will encounter obstacles and challenges to achieving your goals. Be prepared with strategies of how to respond when you encounter those situations. When the enemy attacks be prepared to counter. No matter what obstacles may try to stop you every one of them can be overcome with the Lord’s help. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) IF you have followed the previous 3 steps you’re carrying out God’s plan for your life, and His plans are blessed. He has a vested interested in helping you overcome and fulfill your purpose. Get ready for a “Breakthrough Year” in 2017.

I want to challenge to make this year different. Start the year off right by inviting God into your process. Learn from past mistakes and successes, but let go of them so you can move forward into what God has for you this new year. Apply these four strategies and if you do, 52 weeks from now you’ll be looking back on this year not in disappointment, but with a great deal of satisfaction and positioned for a greater future. Make this your “BREAKTHROUGH YEAR”.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

If you are reading this and it’s not the New Year on the calendar –  this can still be the start of New Year for you – right now today!   Just use these 4 steps to begin your breakthrough year from this moment forward.  Then your life will be filled with peace, joy, purpose, and great success, Happy New Year!