We can make 2013 our best year ever.  It is a matter of choice in paying the price in doing our part. A lot of things have been written about 2012. For many, it was the worst year in living memory. For me, it was my best year ever. I have seen God crown my efforts with success in an unprecedented way. The year of course had its own challenges, including personal and national tragedies. There are certain things we do not have control over. I remember growing up, the serenity prayer whose rhyme sounded fascinating but whose import I never grasped until much later in life:

God grant me

The serenity to accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference

For most of us, especially in the area of business, finance and relationships (communication), we lack the wisdom to know the difference. We ask for serenity to wait for the things we can change to change by themselves. According to the late Jim Rohn, acclaimed as America’s foremost business philosopher;

–          If you will change, everything will change

–          To have more, you need to become more

–          Don’t wish for things to get easier, wish that you get better

–          Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills

–          Success is something you attract by the person you become. Success is not something you pursue. Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive person

The summary is that you have to set yourself up for success by working on yourself. You prepare for war in time of peace. The outbreak of war is not the time to enrol in the Defence Academy. That is too late. God will pass the ball, but it is your responsibility to score the goal. If you are not ready and prepared, no matter how beautiful the pass, you will miss the shot.

Let me give you a simple illustration. A building contractor believes God for a financial breakthrough, and daily bombards Heaven with his request, doing all he knows how to ask. Let’s say the opportunity presents itself and he messes up the job. He becomes an embarrassment to the person who linked him up to get the job. He will not be given other jobs, and no amount of prayer and fasting will change things. A story goes that when the male lion wakes up in the morning, he stretches, announces his presence with a bone chilling roar and prays a simple prayer:

God, show me the animal that is my lunch today and leave the rest to me.

Our success in 2013 will depend on how much we cooperate with Heaven. Prayer, giving and confession alone are not enough. Faith without work is dead. We have to roll up our sleeves and change the things we can.

We need a new mindset, new thoughts, attitudes and beliefs about ourselves. We need new goals – spiritual, mental, physical, financial, relationship, career etc. We need new skills, new habits, new information, and new way of looking at things. What we have so far has brought us this far. We have reached the last bus stop and the bus is not going farther than this. To move forward, we have to leave the old bus and join a new bus. We have to leave the old behind and embrace the new. We cannot do the same old things and expect a new result. We have to raise our standards. We have to go where we have not gone before and do what we have not done before. We need to go the extra mile. We need to exceed our former limits. We need to move to the next level.

Our best years are ahead of us. They will not manifest through slogans for the year only. It is when opportunity meets preparation that miracles happen. The supernatural happens when the super meets the natural. We have encompassed this mountain long enough. It is time to blow the trumpet and move camp. We can make 2013 the best year of our life and 2014 even better. Happy New Year!

Usiere Uko is editor of www.financialfreedominspiration.com  and author of Practical Steps to Financial Freedom and Independence – www.amazon.com/Practical-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Independence/dp/147006832X .