This is The Most Effective Training Session I do All Year.
I do it every year. In total, all three parts equate to a 15-minute read. This is not for the faint of heart. It’s super deep. The result = your mind blown.
Below you’ll find:
- The toughest question all humans need to answer.
- The five questions I reflected on for this past year.
- My word for 2025.
- The main thing we all need to work on next year.
(I wrote this on my iphone, please excuse any typos or grammatical errors.)
When was the last time you sat down and deeply reflected on life?
My humble assumption based on listening to so many people on a daily basis is that it’s quite a rarity nowadays.
Crazy busyness.
Loads of distractions.
Hyper inflated “activity industry” makes it challenging.
Has the art of thinking been lost?
Let me ask you this…
Does it sound fun when I say that I love sitting quietly in the morning with just my thoughts? Or that I sit in the sauna with just my thoughts? Or that I drive in silence with just my thoughts? Many wince at the thought of it!
Although this “thought productivity” is a regular practice for me in weekly life, there’s an annual, amplified version I do every year between Christmas and New Years’ Day. I want to share that with you today.
This Might sound odd…
But if I didn’t do this I wouldn’t still be in the fitness industry 15 years later. I wouldn’t lead our ministry anymore either. My family would probably not be in Ohio anymore either!
Let me explain further…
There was a major chunk of my life when I lived for “self.” When I encountered Jesus at 21 1/2 years old, the direction of my life pretty much changed overnight. My faith in Him helped me first answer life’s most universal questions.
Life’s Most Universal Questions
✅ Why am I here?
✅ What’s my purpose?
✅ What’s the meaning of life?
✅ Where am I going when I die?
When my eyes and ears were thankfully opened, I promised that if God showed me the way I would follow Him for the rest of my life.
God-centered instead of self-centered living.
So, when I evaluate every year, review the good and the bad, identify strengths and weaknesses, ask what went well and what didn’t, analyze the wins and the losses; even though my selfish nature would often prefer to do other things, my submission always comes back to, “Your Will Father, not mine. If you haven’t called me out, then I’m still in.” He keeps showing me the way, and therefore, I’ll keep following.
Amazed vs Awe
I heard a Pastor make this differentiation during a sermon and I want to quickly share it here. He said there’s a difference between being amazed and being in awe.
Being amazed means that something about someone or something else captures your attention, looks super cool, gets you temporarily excited. It’s external. For example, going to a concert and watching someone belt out some high notes.
But being in awe is transformative internally. Something or someone made you ponder, treasure, mull over the details and impact your personal life. You don’t just view or participate or cheer on what “they” did, you’re affected and completely altered by what it did to you.
A lot of people are amazed. Few are in awe. And I think the reason is quite simple—— few stop to be still and take time to reflect & answer life’s deepest questions. “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matt 7:14)
The Most Important Question You Can Answer
Regarding those four universal questions, a CEO once asked me, “What’s the most important one that you asked yourself to make you who you are today?” I said, “Where are you going when you die?”
He said, “Wow, that sounds morbid.”
I said, “It’s the most awakening question I ever answered!”
You can have everything, the biggest business, most successful career, the vacations, vehicles, homes, championship titles, accolades, chiseled body, none of it provides eternal significance. You can’t take any of it with you to heaven. When you die, the immediate loved ones you leave behind could care very little about what you leave them behind (at least the unselfish ones won’t)! I heard another friend Pastor say recently that the worst thing that can happen to us is NOT that we die. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we die without first putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That’s why this is the most fundamental, life-changing question I have ever answered. If you haven’t answered it yet, my encouragement is that you start there.
Jesus proclaimed these words, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Discovering the truth about why Jesus came and what He did for me (and you) leaves me in awe. My remaining days on this earth are better for it.
The fear of death (even if subconscious) grips people so much so that they’ll suppress it with busyness, distractions, and hyper inflated activity.
Now that I’ve moved past that, I can utilize my thought-productivity time for other thought-provoking questions that help me live my time in awe of what matters most, instead of just mere amazement at what doesn’t.
If you’re still with me now, let’s go into your yearly reflection!
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