By: D. A. Slinkard
The first article of 2023 is here, and it seems that 2022 was merely a blur passing by in a matter of seconds. Of course, it seems many things have been a blur since the turmoil we faced as a world in 2020, and a person must question whether or not things will ever go back to the way they used to be. I do not believe the world will ever be the same, and it just shows me how quickly people are willing to give up their freedoms without much pushback. My wife asked me what my first article of the new year would be, and it is simple to answer. I want to finish what I started in 2022, and we are going to start this year by completing the ABCs of Slinkard on Success. In fact, this article is going to cover the final 2 letters in the alphabet.
Our words are “yesterday” and “zeal” which I believe are two words crucial for success, especially if we are going to make an impact in 2023. I believe these words are so important that we can learn a lot by focusing on these words each day of the new year. We really should focus on what success we are personally having and what impact is being made on the lives of others. We can look back at yesterday and see what worked for us and what did not then make necessary adjustments.
Too often we repeat mistakes from yesterday, and if we would take the time to learn from the past, surely we would not make the same mistakes twice, three times, or even forty times over. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting a different result. If we were to reflect on yesterday, what could we learn? What worked for us and what did not. What we need to do more of and what things we need to stop doing. This sounds easy enough, but it is much more difficult than it seems. We tend to be too lenient when it comes to knuckling down on ourselves. We lie to ourselves and say the situation is not as bad as what it is. Often it is not as bad as we think, in fact, in most cases it is worse than we could imagine.
We need to take the time at the end of every day to jot down notes on our successes, our failures, and our indifferences. We need to do so while it is fresh in our minds so there is no discrepancy to the impact the day’s events had on our lives. We need to attempt to learn from the events as they occur so we can impact the outcome we have on a daily basis for 2023. Will this be easy? Not at all. Will it take work? Yes, it will. If the process was easy, then everyone would be doing it. More people fail in life at the things they “want to achieve” because they are not willing to put forth the necessary efforts in order to capture success.
Which brings us to the last word on our journey, and it is “zeal.” Too many people are missing zeal in their life. They are missing zeal in their relationships. They are missing zeal in their professions. They are missing zeal in their purpose of life, and this missing ingredient impacts the successes and failures of a society more than we realize. There was a time our society had a zeal for God, and this mindset helped the United States of America become the greatest country known to man. The lack of zeal for God is helping the United States of America lose its foothold on being a world power. I wish our country could have a zeal for God again because I know our lives would be different.
In 2023, if you want to have success during this year, you will want to set some priorities in your life. Learn from each day, and then pursue your goals and dreams with the zeal that is lacking in so many. Show me someone who lives each day with zeal for life, and I will show you someone who is making an impact on themselves and on those around them. Now, it is your turn. Will you learn from yesterday and approach tomorrow with zeal? Or will 2023 be a carbon copy of 2022 for you?
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard would love your feedback. You can contact him at da.slinkard@gmail.com
April 19, 2024
