Facing The New Year With Courage!

Be strong and courageous.
Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

Dr. John Maxwell writes: "When I began my career I was very ineffective as a leader. My problem was that I wanted to please everybody. Making people happy was the most important thing to me. The bottom line was, I lacked the courage to make right but unpopular decisions. How did I turn things around? By making small decisions that were difficult. With each one I gained more confidence and more courage, and I began to change. The process took me four years. At the end of that time I felt I had learned many valuable lessons, and I wrote the following to help me cement what I had learned:

"Courageous leadership simply means I've developed: (1) Convictions that are stronger than my fears. (2) Vision that is clearer than my doubts. (3) Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion. (4) Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection. (5) Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure. (6) Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo. (7) Poise that is more unshakeable than panic. (8) Risk-taking that is stronger than safety-keeping. (9) Actions that are more robust than rationalisation. (10) A desire to see potential reached more than to see people pleased."

If people-pleasing is your problem, you might want to go back and re-read those ten things. You don't have to be great to become a person of courage. You just have to want to fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life - and be willing to trade what seems good in the moment for what's best for your future! And that's something you can do this year, regardless of your level of natural talent.