Like Mon­days, and the first day of the year, the first day of the month is always my favorite time.  It’s like I get to hit the “do-over” or “restart” but­ton all over again.  It’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty to do things bet­ter.

For those of you who are new to my blog, being in per­ma­nent beta is my life-line.  I am obsessed with becom­ing bet­ter each day.  I’ve read some­where that we should aim to grow at least 10% each day.  And 10 per­cent real­ly isn’t all that much when you think about it.  I sup­pose you can say I am inch­ing my way each day to a bet­ter ver­sion of me.

As I write this I am sit­ting out­side in my patio, my face aim­ing the sun.  I for­get for a moment what it will do to my skin and instead, I let it add years to my soul.  I think about what I hope to accom­plish this month.

How can I make it the most epic month of the year?  How will I show up?  How will I push myself?  How many books will I read?  How many blog posts will I pub­lish?  How many days will I work­out each week?  Can I dou­ble my month­ly char­i­ta­ble dona­tions?

Some­one read­ing this might think my pri­or­i­ties aren’t straight.  They might say just who the heck do I think I am…

No one has to under­stand your “why”.  You need no one’s per­mis­sion or approval.  The opin­ions of oth­ers are not your busi­ness.

So what will you accom­plish this month?

What if God put this big dream in your heart for a rea­son?  Will your inven­tion cure can­cer?  Per­haps.  Will your book save a life?  I mean, will it lit­er­al­ly save some­one’s life?  Maybe.  If some­thing is in your heart and it keeps com­ing back or lingers around like a bad cold, lis­ten to it.  Your “thing” may just be what the world needs.

“Tell your heart that the fear of suf­fer­ing is worse than the suf­fer­ing itself. And that no heart has ever suf­fered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every sec­ond of the search is a sec­ond’s encounter with God and with eter­ni­ty.” — Paulo Coel­ho, The Alchemist