The start of the new year always seems to be a strong source of motivation for us to make a few plans to improve our situation in some important area of life like a close relationship, change a few ineffective habits, get after some professional goal, or simply to shrink our waistline.

As we continue on our journey to build and strengthen our character, the new year also brings forward an opportunity to manage our expectations around the goals or resolutions we set going into the new year.

The truth that needs to be reinforced in order to manage our expectations during the start of the year is that for all the important improvements we wish to bring about, just about every one of them won’t happen overnight. The important things in life don’t have a painless risk-free short cut, EASY button, and we can’t purchase the FAST-PASS to eliminate some barriers.

The new year and the resolutions we put forth, presents a great opportunity to remind us of the one natural law that most directly governs the accomplishment of any new year’s resolution or life goal, The Law of the Harvest. The law of the harvest is the simplest and most powerful life-transforming principle.

The law of the harvest, in the natural world, is as true as the law of gravity. If we want to reap an abundant harvest of corn or soybeans, there is only one pathway to follow and there are no shortcuts. We must spend time in winter to make a plan and prepare to implement when the spring comes. In the spring, we must prepare the ground and plant the seed. In addition, throughout the spring and summer, we must cultivate the fields through a long growing season. Then, and only then, will we reap an abundant harvest in the fall.

As we look to accomplish important goals in the new year, the law of the harvest will always be our judge. As we manage our expectations for goals in the new year, here are a few points to help us all reap an abundant harvest:

1. Make a plan: For important goals in life, “winging it” will not be a successful strategy. Once a goal is set, we should spend some time making a simple action plan to pursue the goal.
2. Disaster may strike: Many more times than not, the law of the harvest will guide us to accomplish our goals. Certainly, there will be the occasion when disaster strikes and wipes everything out. However, for the vast majority of seasons, if we adhere to the principle of the law of the harvest, we will reach our goals in a most predictable fashion.
3. Keep the faith: In that dark, lonely valley after our exciting start has faded away and our goal still seems so far off in the distance, we should keep our faith that the law of the harvest will return abundance if we keep working our plan…it almost always will.

As we use the new year to set some goals and manage our expectations with the truth contained in the law of the harvest, we will build and strengthen our character and Character Creates Opportunity to achieve our goals no matter what comes our way.