Tuesday, January 23, 2018

18 for 18

"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly"
 - G. K. Chesterton

Don't know about you, but the novelty of the new year has come and gone for me.  I'm back into the swing of things, into my normal routines again.  As in years past, the thoughts and intentions of the improvements I was planning in my life for the new year have fallen off my plate and lay splattered on the floor.

So today I thought that I would get out the broom and try to salvage some of that sentiment.  Below I present to you an "18 for 18" list.  Provided are 18 possible actions to take to move a little closer to what Matthew Kelly calls "the best version of yourself"  I guess that implies that if you wanted to be a little bit better, you could take on 2 or more of these.  Heck - if you somehow can dig up the motivation and focus, do all 18 and you could be the best! 

None of these will take more than 10 minutes a day (if its a daily thing) or an hour a week (if its weekly).  We can all find 10 minutes, can't we?  When it comes down to it, its just being willing to make the commitment and following through.  Use today's technology to help you - set a daily, weekly or monthly reminder on your calendar or phone (ask one of your children if you need help with this).

And no cheating - if you are already doing one or more of these actions, don't give yourself a pass on this - remember the idea is to take one more step towards the best you. 

All I ask is that you consider the quote at the top as you approach this list and give one or two of the items a try.  You don't have to master the task, or do it perfectly - all God is asking is for you to try, and to let the grace He is offering reach through all of the well placed defenses we put up.  We all do things poorly - the key is to keep doing them cause they are worth it!

So here we go!


  1. Regularly partake in one of the many resources available on Formed.org
    • Great Books, Audio Recordings, Video Series, Movies
    • Email me if you need the access code or help registering 
  2. Attend Mass one morning each work week 
    • 6 and 8 AM daily at Holy Infant
  3. Spend an hour each week in silence with Our Lord in the Adoration Chapel
  4. Write a letter a month to someone who has touched your life
  5. Take a Paul VI class 
    • they are free to everyone in the parish!
  6. Listen to a daily or weekly podcast in the car on the ride to/from work
  7. Fast one day a week
    • Two small meals, one large, no snacks in between
  8. Attend Tuesdays With HIM 
    • 6:30AM at Breadco in Winchester
  9. Pick a Saint and spend 10 Minutes a day reading about their life
  10. Spend time reading on of the many great spiritual books
  11. Sign up for Bishop Barron's Daily Gospel Reflection, or some other daily devotional
  12. Use Twitter to receive daily thoughts from some wonderful spiritual mentors
       This is a great way to get bite-sized pieces of wisdom from these great
        Catholic thinkers and Saints: 
  13. Do a daily Examen and/or go to Confession monthly
  14. Visit a homebound neighbor once a month
  15. Pray the Rosary daily in your car
  16. Watch Father Mike Schmitz's weekly video on Ascension Presents
  17. Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru line once a week
  18. Sponsor a child thru Compassion International and write them regularly


And here is one bonus:

     19. Recommit to attend PX90 each Saturday morning

If you want to do one of these things but don't know how, send me an email and I would be happy to help or point you in the right direction.  If nothing on this list speaks to you, then do some praying and find something that does.


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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Awesome challenge Jim. I’m going to share this list with my CRHP team.

January 23, 2018 at 10:10 PM

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