As the New Year arrives, it is important to remember: New Years are a gift – so treat them right! Hey, don’t laugh. We only see a limited number of New Year’s in our lifetime, so maybe we should be a little more respectful with how we treat the ones we have been given! Start by looking back over your lifetime, and consider how badly you’ve treated some of the New Year’s past.

Let me give you a hint: Many of us made valiant resolutions, but never kept them; resolved to break old habits, but never did; and promised to trim our bodies up, feed them better things, and get them into shape, but before we could say “Welcome to February,” we had already reverted to the old lifestyle of neglect and mistreatment. At the start of other New Year’s, we promised to remove all the hurtful substances from our systems (you figure that part out), work at improving relationships, and do right by those we love the most, but often, only had mediocre results.

That’s not the only ways we’ve let our New Year’s down, is it? For many of us, we’ve promised to finally start fulfilling our dreams, expanding our business, change jobs, and stop living in the past; only to look back 12 months later, to see another year limp off the scene; beaten, battered, neglected, bloated, out-of-shape and abused, and all we have to show for our pledges, promises, oaths and resolutions, are regrets.

Does that describe some of your past years? Maybe it describes more of them than you care to admit, and now, you are desperate to find a remedy for the way you’ve abused all the years in the past. Sadly, there’s no way we can undo the things we’ve done to the year gone by, though we wish we could. But we can’t, and that’s that. So you’re left with two choices: either you can dump on yourself the rest of your life, or you can forgive yourself (and ask others to do the same), and start living again. Remember this: beating yourself up won’t undo anything, so for everyone’s sake; once you’ve done the right thing, move on.

As we approach another New Year – one of only 70* the average person will ever experience in their lifetime - we need to examine the subject a little closer, and develop a better action-plan for it. Taking positive steps now, will keep us from filling another year with hope, and making it mega-promises of how we are going to treat it better, only to watch the poor thing crash and burn halfway through, and leave us filled with more regrets than the year before.

Don’t be intimidated by the New Year – it doesn’t have to end like the rest. I am a firm believer in redemption and transformation. In my lifetime, I have seen many old tattered years turned into incredible success stories - successes that have lasted the remaining years of many people’s lifetimes. So here’s some good news for you: if they turned their years around, you can do it, too. After all, just because some of your past year’s have ended badly, that doesn’t mean another New Year has to be replicated in ruination. (Head on over to our website: http://www.destinyministry.net for more help – click the Tom Cannon tab, then the DO YOU KNOW JESUS? Tab to find the best way to make ALL your years better!)

What’s the #1 secret to turning around the cycle of broken years? As a Christian, I believe God has the power we need to change the outcome of our years. But here’s the kicker: He won’t do it without your cooperation. Then again, why should He? It’s your life, after all, so shouldn’t you be involved in the reclamation process? God promises to help you, give you the power to live a new life of victory, but you have a certain amount of responsibility in this life-equation, too.

Now, here’s the good part. I am going to give you five tools to make the New Year as good as you want it to be. No, I am not promising that your life will be ‘Hollywood perfect’ in a few months, but I am giving you the roadmap to follow, that will start you down the right road – the road to life-change and eventual success, as you work your way toward the future of your choosing – with the help and guidance of God. (For more help, buy “Changing Natures” by Tom Cannon at www.Destinyministry.net)

Want to know how to do it? OK. Starting today, here’s five practical steps to turn your life around, and make the remaining years of your life victorious. Don’t freak out if everything isn’t instantly perfect. OK? Life-change is a process, a road that leads you to your ultimate goal, so don’t be discouraged if you encounter a bump in the road along the way. Just don’t let the bumps destroy your forward movement. Never forget: a momentary setback doesn’t make you a failure – but quitting will. As long as you keep moving forward, and doing all you can to make every day better, you will always be a winner.

Here’s my top five steps to making a New Year better:

1. Make the Right Choices!

A half century of living has taught me one thing: Life can be as good as you determine to make it. The choice is yours. That’s right. You are the one who has the ability to shape or reshape your life. You can blame everybody else for your struggles, but sorry to tell you – that won’t get you anywhere but a pathetic life in return. If you want to change your future, you have to change your thinking, your attitude, and your actions. It really is that simple.

2. Forgive Somebody – Maybe Even Yourself.

Yeah, that’s a good idea. Cut yourself some slack, give yourself a fresh start ... Stop worrying about the ‘what ifs’, the “woulda, shoulda, couldas” of life ... and start changing things you can change, right now. (Read more of my blogs at: http://www.TomCannon.org)

3. Extend Mercy to Someone – Especially Those Who Don’t Deserve It.

I know; that’s the opposite advice your therapist charged you $200 for last week. Oh well – there’s nothing we can do about that. But remember this; just because someone charged you for their opinion, that doesn’t automatically make it right. Personally, I believe the ‘find somebody to hate or blame’ game is the worst advice anyone could ever give. Think about it: what’s the outcome of blaming others for your failures? The problem with unforgiveness is it’s contagious. Like a tropical disease run rampant, it will soon spread to every other relationship you have, until eventually, you’re looking for ways to blame every person you know, for something they’ve done wrong.

Here’s the good news: Blaming others won’t cure anything, or help you achieve a brighter future. But extending mercy to those who have hurt you, and forgiving them of all the things they’ve done wrong certainly will. First of all, extending mercy removes the animosity from your heart, and changes your attitude. But wait, there’s more: By freeing the person that hurt you, you are also freeing yourself, and that means you will no longer have to spend all of your positive energy on negative situations.

As you release others from the prison house of the past, you free up a lot of disk space in your mind, that can be devoted to making your future brighter, rather than keeping you enslaved to the past. Don’t believe me? That’s too bad, because it really does work. Then again, what have you got to lose, other than a load of pain and hurt – that you just might be free from forever, if you pull the right lever and rid yourself of the garbage of unforgiveness forever.

4. Random Acts of Kindness (Pay it Forward)

The Golden Rule will never go out of style. After all, doing good things for others is one of the best ways to do good by yourself! It’s amazing – the results I’ve seen when people start living by this rule. It’s incredible. Your outlook changes on life, you feel better about yourself, and how you’re living life, than you ever can imagine. Oh yeah, it really does work.

My wife and I are the directors of Destiny Ministries, Inc., and we do a lot of mission work overseas, and ministry here in the USA. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of my combined experiences it’s this: there’s nothing else I’ve ever done in life, that has changed my life, or altered my attitude like doing something good for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. But here’s the good news: not everyone can go to some Asian jungle and help orphan kids live a better life, or help educate children who’ve fled war-torn nations in the Middle East. But EVERYONE can do SOMETHING – to make life better for someone – somewhere! 

Here’s a few suggestions (And a lot of them don’t require any money): Donate your time to an after-school, mentoring program; adopt a widow or single parent, and help them with chores around their house; buy shoes, coats or mittens for less fortunate kids in your town (often you can donate them through public schools); find a good charity and help them reach the people who need it the most (either in the USA or overseas); cut your elderly neighbors lawn, snowblow grandma’s driveway; go to the nursing home and spend time with someone else’s mom or dad; or join a library reading group, and help make many children’s day a little brighter.

5. Pursue Your Dream It’s OK to do nice things for yourself, too. That’s not a crime. Just don’t forget to do some good things for others along the way! In fact, I would encourage you to incorporate ‘doing random acts of kindness’ into your daily routine, from here on out!

But getting back to you – here’s something you can do to make your future brighter. Pursue YOUR dream! Break out of the rut ... and do the ONE thing you’ve always wanted to do. You know what it is, nobody has to tell you, do they? Sadly, for many people, they’ve never done anything to fulfill their dream. Or maybe they tried once, but when it didn’t go so well, they chucked it aside in disappointment, and tried to forget about it. But dreams can’t be so easily forgotten, because dreams are too integrally woven into your DNA to forget as simple as that.

Remember, the task at hand is learning to treat the New Year right. But that can’t be done, if you neglect an important part of yourself. So this year, we are going to haul that old dream out of the closet one more time, dust it off, and make it happen. Got that? Good, cuz you’re going to need a ‘won’t quit attitude’ if you’re finally going to make that thing come true. For time’s sake, let me leave you with three vital ideas that will help you achieve your dream.

a. Get off the schneid and start developing a plan. Work out the details, and prepare an action-plan for success.

b. Seek out expert advise. Find someone who knows how to do what you’re dreaming about doing, and follow their model. Surrounding yourself with success is the best way to succeed. A good support group, or strong mentor, can’t be beat.

c. Do something about it – consistently. Inactivity kills dreams – guaranteed. Remember: failure is only failure if you never try, or quit trying altogether. Those who try and fail are never failures, because they are pursuing the dream others only dream about! Last I checked, nobody earned an award for living a ‘safe and predictable’ life. Those who are remembered best, and esteemed by the rest, are those who risked the most, who put it all on the line, and pursued their dream.

Why die with regrets of a dream unpursued, when with a little effort, ‘elbow grease’ and determination - you can make your drams come true, a little at a time. Isn’t it better to have tried and failed, than to have never tried at all? Indeed, I would rather die knowing I left nothing on the field, than going out with regrets aplenty!

When I was twenty-something, I ran a 3K race in my hometown. I finished in the middle of the pack. Not bad, some would say, for your first race. But that’s not true. It was a terrible place to finish, because I had enough gas in my tank at the end of the race, to run another 3k race again. I always felt bad about that, and you know why? I didn’t give it my all. I reserved too much energy for the end, and ran out of time to make it useful.

That’s the dilemma too many people face at the end of life. They played it too safe, and have a disappointing finish. So whatever you do this year – do something, and do it on a consistent basis.

Enjoy the New Year, and may you find more success in it, than you ever have I the past!

Tom Cannon is an experienced author, and has written numerous books, including; “Two Faces in the Mirror,” “Servants of the King,” "Mountain Empire" and “Changing Natures.”

For more information on this topic, or to purchase books, head on over to www.Amazon.com, http://www.TomCannon.org, or http://www.DestinyMinistry.net bookstore.

Email: destinyministry@gmail.com