Evaluate 2021 and Prepare for 2022

‘Then God looked over all He had made and He saw that it was very good. And he rested.’

Genesis 1:31 stands at the end of God’s creative work and registers His evaluation of the world. All that He had made on the several six days of the creation, He took a survey of them, looked over them again as workmen do when they have finished their work, to see if there’s anything amiss or wanting. Not that anything of this nature can be expected in the works of God but such a survey has been attributed to Him as it is expected of men. The works of the six days of creation having ended, God as it were contemplated the universe both in it’s details and in its entirety. That which He saw to be good to be good on each separate day was but a fragment. That which He finally declares to be very good on the sixth day is the vast ordered whole in which the separate parts are combined, not man alone that God surveys but the complete Cosmos with man as its crown and Glory.

Self Evaluation is the process of systematically observing, analyzing and improving one’s actions and results. It enables one to honestly assess His strength and one’s need of improvement. It serves to increase commitment to goal setting and achievement.

Evaluation is important for progress. It provides building material or blocks for the next season. It determines the next plan of action. One cannot take steps to improve or do better unless they know the need to. It cannot be underrated and what better time to do it than the end of a season, period or year.

The book of Genesis is a book of precedence. God almighty, who is excellent in works, took time to evaluate his actions. More or less showing us the way we should deal with our own affairs. While this exercise is employed by many organizations it isn’t unusual for most of us to breeze through each year without evaluating our individual lives. Sad to say but even professionals such as Human Resource Practitioners, Project Managers, Chief Executive Officers among others, that carry out evaluation at their workplaces tend to ignore this practice in their personal lives. It is not uncommon to find men or women who excel at their workplaces by carrying out self evaluation floundering in their family and personal lives simply because they ignored this ritual or assumed it is for the workplace.

In order to carry out self evaluation successfully, it is important to look at the different areas individually. Namely;

• Spiritual — The relationship with our creator is paramount. The preacher winds up the book of Ecclesiastes with a sobering conclusion. ‘The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments’.
• Financial — Money answers all things and it is wise to take an inventory of the Assets, Savings and how easy or hard it was to take care of the daily needs through the year..
• Intellectual — We live in a rapidly evolving world. Proverbs 2 exhorts us to cry after knowledge and seek for it as silver and as for hidden treasures.
• Social or relational — Family, Friends and our social networks play a very crucial role in our well being.

Pull out the goals, resolutions and targets you set at the beginning of the year 2021 and assess performance in comparison to the actual performance or results.

Look at what you have done in the course of the year and evaluate the quality. If it is not good. Plan the next course of action.

If it is good, rest just as God did.

Having evaluated 2021, start preparing for 2022. Preparation is an act of faith.

Everything we have has a seed for sowing and bread for eating.

Bread meets the need for today. Seed meets the need for tomorrow. Seeds are not big in size. Use the bigger portion of your time to accomplish today’s goals, dreams and aspirations.

Take out the best seed of your time today and plan for tomorrow.

Sift out the feeble and sickly and keep the healthy for sowing tomorrow. Tomorrow’s abundant harvest depends on the quality of the seeds set aside today. No wise farmer picks out the diseased seeds for planting for the next season.

The quality of tomorrow’s harvest depends on the quality of the seeds we set aside today.

Then document. Write down the visions, the plans, the dreams.

Documentation is key. Without a Book there is no Religion. Without a Constitution there’s no Nation. Without a Curriculum no Education. Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets. It becomes easier to pursue a documented plan of action.

We can visualize tomorrow using it as a motivation to grow but if you want to actually grow your focus should be on today. It is easy to think that little things did not matter through the course of our days. Thus we put off a lot of things to be done later. The reality is the things we do every day, the things that don’t look like they matter, do matter. They not only make a difference they make all the difference. It is those insignificant actions that when compounded over time will dramatically affect how your life turns out. We have a choice every day to make sure we are moving closer to our desired goals in life. In the making of our plans it is important to be as detailed as possible.

1 Chronicles 22 records the action King David took in preparation for the house he instructed his son Solomon to build for God. He prepared extravagantly or abundantly. Great way to ensure a successful start and ultimately finishing of 2022.

To all my friends and followers on medium and social networks who have made my writing journey a joy, I’m grateful. Thank you. I wish you a Happy and Prosperous 2022.