No matter what, most resolutions are broken before the second week of January rolls around.

Good intentions pave the road to yesterday’s results.

If you’re committed to changing things in your church, now’s the time to begin.

Good intentions pave the road to yesterday’s results.

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And it all begins with you, pastor.

Here are five-and-a-half practices that guarantee that the end of this year won’t look like the end of last year.

• 1. Each evening, take 10–15 minutes writing down the five things you must accomplish the next day. Prioritize them in order of impact. Then in the morning accomplish #1 before you even check your email.Take 15 minutes or less to do the mundane tasks, then tackle #2. Repeat until all five tasks are complete. If something doesn’t get done, move it to tomorrow’s list.
• 2. Spend one hour each week with a key church leader and after ten minutes of conversation (check in), spend the rest of the time talking about their (1) One year goal; (2) 90 day goals; (3) personal development needs; (4) Who and how they’re mentoring their replacement.
• 3. Spend one less hour in the office this week than you did last week and spend it in conversation with someone who’s unchurched or who has visited your church for the first time over the last thirty days. Do this each week until you’re spending 5–10 hours a week with visitors and potential visitors.
• 4. Become a member of a local Toastmasters Club (and both attend and participate) and/or take a public speaking class. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are in the pulpit, there’s room for improvement.
• 5. Make one appointment with a city leader each week (mayor, aldermen, chief of police, executive directors of large non-profits, etc.). Ask them to share their vision for the city and how they believe you or your church could help them achieve that vision.
• 5.5. Spend at least 30 minutes each day staring out the window dreaming what your church could look like and what you’ll need to do and what you’ll need to stop doing to achieve that. Write your thoughts down and get them onto your Top Five List.

If you’ll put these 5.5 things into practice this year, you’ll see positive, measurable results by the end of the year.

Think you’re going to have difficulty keeping motivated and pointed in the right direction? Find out how The Effective Church Group can keep you on target.