How are you at finishing big projects? My track record isn’t great. I’m the kind of person who gets an idea, dives in with every ounce of energy at my disposal, and works super-hard… for awhile. Then my energy wanes, I hit a road-block, and I lose all that momentum. And then, often, the project falls by the wayside.

I’m at the stage of lost-momentum with this project to memorize Philippians. The road-block that slowed me down was partially the time-change and partially the illnesses of my family. The best time for me to memorize is first thing in the morning. But when I’m up at night, or when I’m just plain tired, I have a really difficult time dragging myself out of bed.

But I’m not going to follow my usual pattern. That’s where the accountability of having let everyone know I’m doing this comes in. This week I’m diving back into it. Here’s my plan:

• Add the book of Philippians to my iPod. This way I can listen to it while driving in the car or working out (which also hasn’t happened lately, but I’m determined to get back to). It takes about 20 minutes to listen to the book straight through, and I drive for 20 minutes several times a week. I will try to say it along with the recording where I’ve memorized, as well, so it’s practice.
• Outline the first chapter. I still mix up phrases here and there, so I’m hoping that taking some time to outline will help me see what goes where and remember it better.

I was working on Philippians 1:18-22 when I lost steam. So I’ll be reviewing the first 22 verses this week and really focusing on getting them correct, before I move on to the next 2-3 verses.

How far have you gotten? How are you overcoming the roadblocks you’ve faced?

This is a continuing series. Read the story behind this project and my previous posts here.