There are moments when we need to pick up the pace because of laziness , but more often than not , we need to slow the pace because of busyness . “ If the devil can ’ t make us bad ,” said Corrie Ten Boom , “ he ’ ll make us busy .” Why is it that the Sabbath is the longest of the ten commandments ? Perhaps it ’ s because it ’ s the hardest one to keep ! Why ? You have to slow down , which is tough to do in a rat race . your goals into daily habits .
Get off the grid !
Excerpted from Do it for a Day : How to Make or Break Any Habit in 30 Days by Mark Batterson . Copyright 2021 . To be published by Multnomah , an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC , on November 2 , 2021 .
At the end of every year , Lora and I take a twoday planning retreat . Along with budgeting and calendaring , we review our gratitude journals and set goals for the coming year . We employ a wide variety of techniques to keep us centered , including a word of the year and a verse of the year . You don ’ t have to go somewhere exotic . It can be a staycation ! But you do need to set aside time for a set purpose . In addition to that planning retreat , we try to schedule a silent retreat once a year . With all of the white noise these days , we need to do some ear cleansing ! Finally , I ’ d recommend one weekend a year to set goals , review goals , and reverse engineer
NOW
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington , DC . Mark is the New York Times bestselling author of 17 books , including Whisper , Win the Day and the children ’ s book The Blessing of You ( on sale 10 / 26 / 21 ), cowritten with his daughter Summer . Mark and his wife , Lora , and two of his children , reside on Capitol Hill .
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