You Are Not Behind in 2025

A New Goal for a New Year

By Meghan Ryan Asbury | Photography by Jessica Soderholm

Something about a new year makes me feel behind in life.

Don’t get me wrong—I am a goal-oriented girl through and through. I love sitting down and planning for the year ahead. I’m determined to make changes physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and I enjoy dreaming about how to do so. There’s something about the turning of the calendar that makes me feel hopeful, like the possibilities for growth and change are here.

Yet, as the holidays end and January begins, I’m reminded of all the ways I failed to accomplish what I set out to do the year before. I never trained for that half marathon nor hit my very reasonable business goals. There are piles of books I never got around to reading, and my savings account doesn’t hold as much as I hoped it would by now.

On a deeper level, I feel like I’m not where I thought I would be in life at this point. My bad habits haven’t changed, relationships aren’t where I want them to be, and things I longed for and prayed for didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, I’ve watched friends get what I wanted and seemingly hit all their goals. Pregnancies, engagements, beautiful weddings, promotions, and vacations flood my social media news feeds. Curated highlight reels of acquaintances and strangers have me questioning whether or not I accomplished anything in the past 365 days.

No wonder I feel so behind.

Maybe you’ve felt this way, too—like everyone else has figured out how to get what they want, and you did not get the memo. It can start to feel like things work out easily for everyone but you.

Before you go into the rest of this year, remember this: You are not behind.

When confronted with feeling behind, I start to question if God’s plan for my life is as good as I hoped. I know from personal experience and what the Bible says that he has good plans for my life (see Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28). But when I look around and don’t see that playing out how I want it to, I’m tempted to believe I need to take matters into my own hands to try to catch up to where I want to be. As you can imagine, that rarely ends well. So what do we do in those moments? Is it possible to not feel so behind?

I’ve come to realize so often that the best moments in life are passing us by because we are too busy focusing on what we want to be different. We think the good life is “out there” or will be ours “someday.” But we’ve got one life this side of heaven, and it’s right here, right now. For so long, I was convinced my life was incomplete until my circumstances changed. It wasn’t just keeping me from experiencing the good things in front of me—it kept me from experiencing the abundance God had for me.

I can imagine many of you have felt behind and like you will never be able to “catch back up.” But I want you to know: you don’t have to live this way.

Jesus did not die on the cross for us to get stuck; He died so we would have life and live more abundantly, in this life and for eternity. (John 10:10)

You are not missing out on potentially bigger and better tomorrows. But you may be missing out on the life God is calling you to today.

So, what if we lived differently?

One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 16:6: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

If we believe God’s word is true and that He has put us right here, right now, on purpose, then we can rest knowing that we are not behind. What He has for us here is both pleasant and delightful.

We don’t have to resort to the defeat of feeling stuck or white-knuckle our way through life trying to get ahead. We can enjoy what’s right in front of us and trust God is leading us where He wants us to go.

In the meantime, how do we stop feeling like we are behind and live as Psalm 16:6 tells us? Here are three practical things you can try today:

1. Be grateful: Gratitude immediately helps me feel more at ease with where I am. It’s simple—write down the first three good things you can think of and thank God for each of them. It doesn’t have to be “big” stuff, but once I write it down, I’m already more hopeful about what is ahead.

2. Quit comparing: Comparison is rooted in coveting, which is a sin. So get rid of all the places you’re tempted to experience this. Confess it to God and/or a trusted friend. Don’t play nice here—actively find ways to stop looking at what others have as a measure of what you don’t have.

3. Remember God’s faithfulness: Reflecting on how God has been faithful to you in the past helps make you more hopeful that he is working in your life now and will continue to in the future. The Bible constantly charges us to “remember” who God is and what he has done.

I’m still going to set some goals this year. I want to finally train for that half marathon and read the books on my list. I want to remain hopeful that some of the dreams I have for the year ahead will come true. Still, I’m choosing not to get discouraged when things don’t go as I expect or be distracted when it seems like other people are moving ahead of me.

Before you go into the rest of this year, remember this: You are not behind.

You are here—right where God has you. He has not forgotten you. He has a good plan and purpose for where you are right now.

— V —

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Meghan Ryan Asbury is an author and speaker who is passionate about helping people find and live out their God-given callings. She’s worked in ministry both on college campuses and internationally, as well as with Proverbs 31 Ministries. When she’s not surrounded by friends, you can usually find her reading a book or doing something outdoors. A 30-A beach girl born and raised, she and her husband live in Nashville. Her first book, You Are Not Behind: Building a Life You Love Without Having Everything You Want, is available wherever books are sold. You can connect with her on Instagram @meghanryanasbury and at AlwaysMeghan.com.