Beginning Well: 7 Spiritual Practices for the First Year of Almost Anything

Are you starting a new job, retiring, getting married, expanding your family, or making any significant change in your life?

The first year of almost anything new can be both a blessing and a challenge. In Beginning Well, Joel Stepanek, vice president of parish services at Life Teen International, shows how being shaken out of your routine when you start something new can free you to become a better Christian. He offers seven spiritual practices to get you through transitions and help you lay a strong foundation for true happiness.

Stepanek has worked in pastoral ministry and organizational development for more than fifteen years; he understands that life’s transitions are important to spiritual and emotional well-being and provide the chance to see Christ in places you may not have thought to look before. Stepanek will help you refine your thoughts and behavior to more closely align your life to the Gospel as you grow through your first year of almost anything.

In Beginning Well, you will learn how to

• let go of what you left;
• use what you’ve already learned;
• ask, listen, watch, and learn;
• create routines and rituals to help bridge the old and the new;
• pause and assess;
• find a good mentor; and
• seek and embrace joy.

Stepanek draws on his experience, personal faith, biblical narrative, and Catholic tradition to show you how to grow and thrive as you begin your next big thing.

Joel Stepanek is chief mission officer for the National Eucharist Congress. He has more than fifteen years of experience in ministry and previously served as vice president of parish services at Life Teen International. Stepanek speaks internationally to groups of all sizes, ages, and vocations, and is the author or coauthor of a number of books, including Beginning Well, Chasing Humility, True North, The Greatest Job on Earth, and The 99.

Stepanek earned a master’s degree in religious education with an emphasis in youth and young adult ministry from Fordham University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Colorado State University. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

He and his wife, Colleen, live in Gilbert, Arizona, with their children.