20 stop signs for the new year

We are destined to repeat the mistakes of the last year unless we stop making the poor decisions of the past. Here are my 20 stop signs for the new year.

1. Stop being idle. – Gum drops do not fall out of heaven! Never underestimate the power of small incremental change. ( See Michelle Hyatt "power of incremental change")

If you would decide to loose 1/4 pound a day you would loose 1.75 lbs a week
That's not even worth talking about. 1.75 lbs a week may not seem like much But it is 7 lbs a month. And 1.75 lbs a week X 52 weeks in a year is 91 lbs in a year.

But most people never start because they refuse to acknowledge the power of small incremental, consistent change.

Quit waiting on things to get better, start today to change them for the better, little by little.

My favorite quote of the past year is " I will do today what others will not do, so I can be tomorrow what others can not be."

2. Stop running from your problems. – turn around and face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. This takes a great deal of courage, but it the most liberating thing you may do in the year to come

3. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.

4. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.

I will not be judged by how others used their talents and gifts, but I will be asked to give an accounting for how I used the talents he has entrusted to me.

5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. God did not call you to be a carbon copy of anyone. You are uniquely and wonderfully made. True annointing is the result of you finding yourself and finding your own voice.

Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.

6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

Once the chapter closes, let it close. You cannot enjoy the current chapter if you are continually trying to re live the past.

7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success.

What would you attempt to do today, if you knew you could not fail? Fear of failure is the number one reason we refuse to even try.

8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – one of the greatest traits of King David was, he never got hung up on past victories or defeats.

"but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

If you learned even one thing from your failure, it's no longer a failure but a lesson. God sends lessons into our lives to changes us. Except it as a lesson and quit viewing it as a failure,

9. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you have gone through, you are deflecting responsibility for your current situation.

Anything I own I can fix. Own your failures, again, if you learn even one thing it is not a failure but a lesson.

10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy with anyone else either.

Mark it down, un-happy people are first off unhappy with themselves. Like yourself it is key to being able to love others and enjoying the world you are walking through.

11. Stop lying to yourself. – "Lying to anyone has the strange effect of turning them into our enemy, so when we lie to ourselves we in effect become our own worst enemy. "

Lying to yourself keeps you locked in the prison of yesterday's failures. Self honesty is the key that will open the prison door in your life.

12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.

All true growth makes us feel inadequate and un-comfortable, it is in us facing these fears that we grow and become.

13. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you.

Most importantly, all of these will ultimately bring out the best in you, if you let it. Every person you meet is your better in some area of life. Every person has something to teach you, some positive and some not, by rejecting new relationships you condemn yourself to an island of one with only your past memories for companionship.

14. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.

Never loose the "wow" of your own life's story.

15. Stop using the word phrase "I will try" . Either do or don't do.

"Trying" is often an excuse for failing.

Consider the following sentences;

I will serve The Lord!
I will try and serve the Lord.

One is a positive statement of faith, the other is a weak, passive excuse for failing.
Remove try from your vocabulary.

16. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.

17. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.

18. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out.

Aim your sights straight up the mountain and begin to climb

19. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, but it will strip today of its joy.

Most of what we worry about never comes to fruition, but worry holds us immobile, not growing, not becoming ... Not seeing the wonder that is in our today's.

20. Stop being ungrateful. – Gratitude is a choice, not the result of everything being perfect in our lives. Every good thing in life grows out of the heart of gratitude.

Throw away the dry erase board, life is not going to be fair.

Gratitude is the pre requisite to praise,
Gratitude is the missing ingredient to true happiness

I compiled this list while thinking about myself, the road I have traveled and many of the people that I love. My voice is not aimed at the haters or to the nay Sayers in my life.

My life forever shifted and changed one day when in the depths of despair, I turned and faced myself. In facing myself I quit waiting for gumdrops to fall from heaven, and rescuers to ride in on white chargers righting the wrongs of my life.

As I look back I am embarrassed and ashamed of the amount of time I waisted, waiting, hoping and doing nothing positive to correct my situation.

Today my life is richer, broader and more fulfilling than I ever imagined. It has not been easy or fast. It has been small, measured, constant incremental change.


If its to be its up to me.

Sorry for the extended silence on my blog, I have been very busy. Thank you for the many words of encouragement to continue to write.

As always I am honored you stopped by my Little corner of the world.

God bless you


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad