Men, the sands of time are sinking. Let’s look at your game plan for the next year:

I’d like to encourage men of the Maccabee Society to begin or continue the following 4 “non-negotiables” and to complete tangible benchmarks of excellence before the end of Q1 – that is before April 1.

  1. Exercise in a measurable way. So many people jog, walk, or go to the gym and tinker around. They don’t have a tangible plan – and so they don’t accomplish anything with their physical body. If you aren’t working for a tangible physical goal, you probably won’t be serious or committed to your physical strength. Here are some smart, tangibles to pursue: Run a 7 minute mile. Enter the 1000 pound club. Lose ten pounds – three pounds per month. Train to run in a 10K, Marathon, or Tough Mudder. Sign up for Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing, or a martial arts class. Even better, recruit some guys to train with you and for “gym fraternity.”
  2. Read one book per month – and schedule your reading time. The best way to do this is join Audible and receive a free book every month. Commute time, jogging, and lifting can double as “reading.” I have slammed so many books through my earbuds. It’s fantastic.Recommended books?Marcus Aurelius Meditations. ReWork by David Hansson. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Linchpin by Seth Godin. God’s Battalions (about Crusades) by Rodney Stark.
  3. Pray daily – by setting a time very day to pray. Prayer is elusive. It easily gets pushed aside. My own life demonstrates that prayer time is so easily compromised when deadlines and stress enter the picture. The best way to combat that is to literally write “prayer” into your daily digital planner and set a notification. Options for the busy man: read a Psalm daily. Pray the Rosary. Pray the Angelus. Pray an Our Father when getting to your desk. Pray an Our Father before turning the key in your ignition.
  4. Improve your physical appearance. Transform your appearance over the next three months. Update your haircut. Spend some time figuring out which clothes fit your body best. Get some nice shoes and polish them. Throw out the clothes that don’t fit or are worn out. Work on your posture. Grow a bear or trim your facial hair properly. Lose weight. Smile more. Take up space like an alpha male.

These 4 goals for Q1 of are not overwhelming and you can easily measure them. When April 1 comes around, you can say: “I did it” or “I did not do it.” It’s binary. If you want to be a man of virtue, you need to start the path of self-excellence today. Not just for yourself, but for your family, your town, your nation, and your Church.

If you want detailed help in making goals, I made this video using the acronym SMART to make successful goals come to pass:

If you don’t see the video in your email, please click here to watch it.

Happy New Year,
Taylor Marshall