Hey friends! 👋🏼

I'm turning 30 in less than a month.

And yes, that's still strange for me to say.

Normally birthdays for me are fun and I rarely think about the number itself, this one has me thinking a lot lately about my life. To be honest, this one feels heavy--in a good way.

With a new decade on the horizon, I'm thinking a lot about the seasons of my life and the experiences that I've had that have led me to this place. And while I can't write about everything I've been working through in my mind lately (that article would be way too long), there's one thing that I keep coming back to.

I want to keep going.

A friend of mine said recently that one of his biggest fears was not finishing well, particularly in ministry but also just in life itself. Every day there's another story of someone who seemed to have lived a meaningful life, only to find out that the outside and the inside didn't line up. To be truthful, I share the same fear that my friend has; I don't want to wake up one day to find that I lived my life chasing after things that didn't matter. I want my life to be marked by the pursuit of Jesus and the character that is formed through following Him.

And I want to help others do the same.

After having conversations with people that I look up to, reading lots of books, and watching the lives of those who finish well, I've identified a few areas of my life that I want to strengthen so that I'll be on the path to finishing well, to staying in it for the long haul. Over the next few weeks we'll dive into each of them specifically, but for now, here's the full list.

Faith

Family

Fitness

Finances

Friendships

Fun

I'll admit, historically I'm better at certain parts of this list and worse at others. There have been seasons where I felt really good about one or two, while the others seemed to fall by the wayside.

But there's one factor that when applied to each of these six aspects will produce the long lasting fruit that we're hoping for: intentionality.

It's been said before that a ship never drifts to the right destination, and the same is true about our lives. Whether we're talking about a diet plan, a fitness regimen, your monthly budget, or time with close friends, the key to growth over the long haul is to be intentional and not simply hope that you'll get where you want to be one day...hopefully.

I think many of us get into a rut, believing that we have to make a lot of progress over a short amount of time if we want to reach our goals. And yet, the truth is that small changes repeated with intention over a long period of time will bring about the perseverance that keeps us in the game for the long haul and enables us to pursue our deepest desires instead of our strongest ones. This is why you hear so many financial experts talking about the power of compound interest--a small amount of money invested early and often will bring about significant growth if you stick with it for a long time.

This holds true in each of the areas that we mentioned above.

A monthly meeting for coffee with a friend produces far more relational depth than the occasional lunch meeting ever will.

Committing to 30 minutes of walking 5 days per week over the course of a year is better than doing Crossfit every once in a while but sitting on the couch 99% of the time.

Developing a consistent practice of beginning your day with 5 minutes of silence and solitude and reading one chapter in your Bible will form you more deeply than reading an entire book once every so often and occasionally saying a quick prayer when things are especially difficult.

Intentionality produces growth.

Or I like the way the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 5:

"...We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

Over time, you will find that you are becoming a certain kind of person--for better or worse--but you'll never wake up one day having arrived at your desired destination without an intentional plan for growth over the long haul.

Next week, we'll look at the first (and arguably the most important) of these six areas: FAITH. I hope you'll join me.

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Blessings, my friends. 🙏🏽

Kyle

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P.S. I'd love to hear from you. Which of the six aspects of life that we listed above is the most challenging for you to be intentional about? Simply reply to this email and let me know. I'd love to talk about it more with you.

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I believe that the journey toward becoming the person we were created to be is best done together. If you don't mind, would you take a moment to share this article with someone you know who you think would want to embark on the journey with you? Haven't subscribed yourself? Click the link below to get on the mailing list. I promise I'll never spam you.