It's a New Decade: Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

A new decade is beginning. In some respects, it’s just another day, just another year, but I am of the mind that the calendar provides opportunities for a new outlook. It’s a time to take a fresh perspective on the year ahead, and in this year’s case, the decade ahead. It’s a good time to revisit the questions of “Why am I here?”, “What is my purpose?”, and “What is the legacy I am leaving behind?”

It was the decade of the 1920s when our family business was started—1928 actually. I can only imagine that during this time our founder, Great Grandpa Ozinga, had been asking himself these questions. He was a young, married man in his 30s with young children at home. He was a deputy sheriff in 1920s Cook County, a notorious time in Chicago history. There are stories that he would come home after close calls from shooting scrapes. He made a career change at the age of 35 by starting a small coal delivery business. 

My Grandpa was known to say, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Planning is an important part of making the most of the time we have in this life. If we just stay on the hamster wheel of life, busily chasing our tails without taking time to pause, reflect and ask these tough questions, we might just miss out on our purpose for existence—the reason we are here.

So, what are some tools at our disposal to help recalibrate and stay on the course of our stated purpose? Rest is certainly part of the original design, and I’m thankful that it continues today in American life with Sundays being a day away from work (in many cases). Another example is vacations. I have found Sundays and vacations, unplugged from work, to be a great way to rest and refocus, often leading to priorities reordered and other ideas to simplify things that I had made more complicated.

Another tool that has been around for over two millennia is the practice of fasting. Fasting is the willing abstinence or reduction from food for a period of time. In the year 2020, it can also be applied to things other than food, such as the iPhone, social media, etc. 

For a number of years now, I have started the new year with a 21-day fast. I make it personal, in that I identify certain foods, drinks and/or other things in my life that I tend to mindlessly turn to when I have a craving of some sort. If I am honest, these things have mastery over me as opposed to me having the freedom to partake in them.

Every time I have partaken in this fast, I learn something new. I make discoveries about myself and my perspectives that I likely wouldn’t have but for the fast. It has been a great exercise for me to begin a new year and has helped me with priorities, planning and my purpose. 

If you are considering doing something like this to start your decade, I offer the following tips to consider:

1.    Make a plan: Determine what you are going to fast from on the front end, write it down and consider what you hope to learn. 

2.    Determine a timeframe: As I said, I do it for a consecutive 21 days. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the first 21 days of the year. In fact, if you are finishing a family vacation, I’d encourage you to start the fast after you’re home.

3.    Make it progressive: I like to progressively abstain from more items in each of the three 7-day weeks.

4.    Journal your thoughts: I like to write down on paper some of the things I am learning during the fast.

5.    Be prepared: I am always surprised at how tough it is. I battle with crankiness, irritability, lower energy, etc. You may want to let your loved ones know to prepare as well. 

6.    Invite others: While fasting is a personal, individual practice, there are many traditions where a community of people come together to fast for a season of time.

7.    Pray: I like to turn my unmet cravings into little times of prayer. For instance, when I have a hunger pang, I consider all the people in the world who regularly experience hunger and say a little prayer for them.

I’m thankful to inherit a legacy of forebearers who took risks, made sacrifices, and considered how their life choices would affect future generations. We are the beneficiaries of choices that were made almost 100 years ago.

I’m looking forward to starting a new decade. I’m confident that the daily choices we make will have the power to positively impact people’s lives, the lives of their families and the broader community for generations. 

But I’m also convinced that it doesn’t just happen. We must train ourselves to consider the long-term impact of our daily choices, plan appropriately and prepare to make the necessary sacrifices that lead to knowing and living out our purpose, for the benefit of our generation and those to come. 

Thank you for your partnership as part of our generation in the history of our world. We have much to do together and our time is short. I’m excited that it will be more than we can ask or imagine!