Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year, and underestimate what they can achieve in a lifetime! – Anonymous

Dearly beloved, Happy New Year! I take the opportunity to wish you a year filled with greater happiness, greater health, greater wealth and greater peace! Indeed I could wish you all the good things in the world (I believe you had quite an enormous amount of those kinds of wishes, often presented as prophecies, during the watch-night / x-over service, if you attended one or otherwise participated in one online) except that, my wishes (and even your own wishes, and the wishes of your pastors / prophets, family and friends towards you) are not as important as the practical steps you will necessarily have to take to achieve those things for yourself, for the year is a blank cheque given to you by the one who is the source of every conceivable good thing; you can write any amount or any blessings you so desire, and withdraw that through some practical or hands-on effort on your part.

Let me tell you a very interesting story…

A wise old king charged his wise men to compile the ‘wisdom of the ages.’ After working so hard, they came up with 12 volumes. The king was impressed, knowing that the volumes contained the wisdom and knowledge he should be leaving as a legacy for mankind. However, he was sure the supposed beneficiaries wouldn’t read them because they were too voluminous, so he requested the wise men to condense their work. They compressed the 12 volumes to 1. Pressed further, they reduced the volume to a chapter, then to a paragraph, then finally to a sentence. When the old wise king saw the sentence, he was so elated! He exclaimed, “Gentlemen, this is truly the wisdom of the ages, as soon as all men everywhere learn this truth, then most of our problems will be solved.” The sentence was so short; it simply said, “There ain’t no free lunch.”

Before I outline what I consider as the most effective practical steps that constitute the effort required, let me share with you one very important observation I have made over the several years of experiencing New Years…

Every new year requires that two (2) things have to change; thankfully one does change (automatically) but the other often does not really change, even though it surely needs to change and indeed should, ideally, be changing even before the other one.

The one that does change (automatically) is the Calendar. We have no problem with that; we often prepare ahead by getting new calendars, or otherwise depend on our electronic devices to feed us with new calendars.

The other thing that has to change is our attitude / habits, but sadly many people eagerly look forward to the new year only to start old habits afresh.

See the Scientific humour below; laugh and learn 🙂 

What really changed?

Did you take notice of your sleeping place the night of the 31st, and the morning of the 1st? And were there any significant differences? What about your bank account? And did you have to change your watch(es) for the new year, perhaps in anticipation of how the time in the days are going to run differently?

I believe that you are getting where I’m going with the foregoing questions. Well, it is important to note that the attributes of the days in this new year are not significantly different from that of last year; they are essentially the same, that is why we were — and always are — able to predict the calendar for the new years ahead!

Indeed, 2023 calendar is exactly the same as that of 2017, 2006, 1995, 1989, 1978, 1967, 1961, 1950, 1939, 1933, 2034, 2045, 2051, 2062, 2073, 2079, 2090, 2102, 2113, and 2119; for example. That means in 2023, you reuse any of the calendars from 2017, 2006, 1995, 1989, 1978, 1967, 1961, 1950, 1939, and 1933. Much the same way, you can re-use your 2023 in 2034, 2045, 2051, 2062, 2073, 2079, 2090, 2102, 2113, and 2119.

2022 calendar was known to be similar to that of more than 26 other years; including 1910, 1921, 1927, 1938, 1949, 1955, 1966, 1977, 1983, 1994, 2005, 2011, etc.

This kind of repetition happens every year!

Remember that life is that consistent; in essence, nothing significant has really changed; not even in the spiritual realms! Assurances such as “divine orchestrations favouring you above others” (and so on) may be heartwarming and indeed exciting, but don’t be overly excited by them. If they motivate you into serious practical or hands-on action instead of inaction or half-hearted action then that’s fine. However, if you do not have a carefully thought out plan, and / or if you are not diligent or purposefully busy, then all that excitement may amount to very little or nothing. God and / or his angels will not come and do for you what you will have to do for yourself; just cast your mind back through the years gone by and judge for yourself; life is consistent and / or repetitive.

Time to ponder further

In spite of the many activities and inspirational sermons and prophecies within the some four hours euphoria to usher in the new year, self-esteem issues still persist, as well as poor reading habits, lack of proper comprehension, lack of proper time management and so on. Especially for us in Ghana (and Africa), after several decades of doing these things, there is still massive unemployment and underemployment, our ‘Debt-to-GDP’ ratio is very alarming and yet we still have huge infrastructure deficit, we have very little share in the abundant natural resources, the economy is heavily import-driven and consequently depreciating the local currency, price inflation is so huge, our environment is getting degraded the more, filth is all over, our transportation and healthcare systems are nothing to write home about, and our life expectancy is terribly low, and so on!

To paraphrase Albert Einstein: we cannot continue to do the same things over and over, and expect different results! Fortunately, there are some 7 (expandable to 13) simple but extremely effective steps that anyone can use to harness one’s true / hidden potential and make a big difference…

Step 1: Discover the eagle in you!

Interestingly, what you attempt, or do in life depends on what you convincingly know as your capabilities. And though you are an amazing being with extreme power and that nothing whatsoever can stop you except your own self by your own mind, chances are that you might go through life without being made fully aware of this innate power. So you end up doing just common things. Discovering the eagle in you involves getting to know aspects of yourself that help you to advance from just believing that you were born to be great, to actually knowing with empirical evidence that you are actually great; that there is greatness already inside of you.

PS: Take some cue from Romans 14:5, Matthew 5:45, Galatians 6:3, Proverbs 10:4, and Proverbs 12:24.