A Healthier You in 2024

Will you be a healthier person in 2024 than 2023? A year from now, will you be closer to Jesus, have better boundaries, and live with more margin? Or, will you be more burned out and over-extended? I think this is an important question for us to consider.  

Let me tip my hand. Whether or not 2024 is a healthier year for you has less to do with your environment and more to do with how you choose to function in your environment.

If you want a healthier version of yourself as you serve and lead in the church in 2024, you’ll need to focus on two things.

Create Margin

Busyness just happens.  

You’re driven. I’m driven. Leaders are like magnets. Tasks, roles, and responsibilities magnetically attach to us. Unfortunately, the busier we become, the more overwhelmed and frantic we become. To be honest, this will not lead to the best version of you in 2024.  

You have to create margin.    

The only way to create margin in our lives is to make deliberate decisions to create space. It has to be intentional. You must give away tasks, roles and responsibilities to other people.

There will always be new and important opportunities and the only way to engage them is to reduce your current load. 

If you want to get serious about creating margin this year, then you must prioritize and empower. Here’s what I mean:  

The first thing you need to do is spend time prioritizing all that is on your plate. What is most important? What has the greatest impact? What tasks and roles must live with you? Once you make this list, what’s left? Whatever is left probably shouldn’t be on your to-do list.  

Second, in order to create margin, you’ll have to empower other people. The stuff that didn’t make your “most important list” shouldn’t belong to you.

Empower someone else to do these tasks. So, who should take on those tasks? Another staff member? A volunteer? An intern? An assistant? Find someone, teach them, and empower them to do the work. 

Get Focused

Very rarely do the things that matter most happen naturally. People don’t accidentally exercise.  It’s an intentional decision. And, perhaps most importantly, it is scheduled. 

If you want to be a healthier version of yourself in a year, it will require you to schedule what matters most. We all have great intentions, but where intentions meet reality is your calendar. So, let me ask you. Are you scheduling what matters most?

• What day of the week is your sabbath?
• When is your next vacation?
• What night of the week do you date your spouse?
• When does your family share a meal?
• When do you exercise? 
• What time of the day do you consistently spend with God?  
• When are you scheduled to meet with a mentor?  
• Do you have accountability relationships on the calendar?  
• What season of the year do you focus on growth and development?
• Where on your calendar do you have time for creative thinking and problem solving?  

I think you get the point. Here’s the challenge: What matters most will not happen unless you schedule it. So, if you want to be a healthier version of yourself in 2024, put what matters most to you on your calendar.  

I believe that in 2024 you will either become a healthier or unhealthier version of yourself. For the most part, who we become will depend on our own decisions and activities. Two challenges for us: create margin and focus on what matters.  

Very rarely do the things that matter most happen naturally. People don’t accidentally exercise.  It’s an intentional decision. And, perhaps most importantly, it is scheduled. 

If you want to be a healthier version of yourself in a year, it will require you to schedule what matters most. We all have great intentions, but where intentions meet reality is your calendar. So, let me ask you. Are you scheduling what matters most?

• What day of the week is your sabbath?
• When is your next vacation?
• What night of the week do you date your spouse?
• When does your family share a meal?
• When do you exercise? 
• What time of the day do you consistently spend with God?  
• When are you scheduled to meet with a mentor?  
• Do you have accountability relationships on the calendar?  
• What season of the year do you focus on growth and development?
• Where on your calendar do you have time for creative thinking and problem solving?  

I think you get the point. Here’s the challenge: What matters most will not happen unless you schedule it. So, if you want to be a healthier version of yourself in 2024, put what matters most to you on your calendar.  

Wrap Up

I believe that in 2024 you will either become a healthier or unhealthier version of yourself. For the most part, who we become will depend on our own decisions and activities. Two challenges for us: create margin and focus on what matters.