“What goals?”
Goals are the fuel that keeps the fire of life alive inside of us. I’m not talking about everyday decisions that may impact what you wear tomorrow. I’m talking about, where do you want to be in five years? What steps do I have to take to get there? What can I do today that will start the momentum? The initial inertia is the brick wall that many people stop at instead of continuing on past their first fears.
“I know what I want, is that a goal?”
Knowing what you want out of life, your career and your family is not the same as having a goal. Everyone wants to be involved in a happy loving family. Everyone wants to feel they are appreciated at work. Those are not goals. Goals are aspirations. Goals are things that you can shoot for. Not just “I want to be successful”. That’s a statement, not a goal. A goal is “I will be the best manager this company has ever seen”. That is something you can put action to. A goal is “I will be the loudest cheerleader at my son’s baseball game”. That is a goal that is easy to obtain but will dramatically affect the view your son has about you. You have to first commit to making all of the games.
“Do you have to set goals for everything in your life?”
Well, not everything you do requires you to have a goal. I want to start wearing ties to work more often, is something I want to do but it is not necessarily a goal. A goal would be, “I will be recognized as the best dressed in the office”. This requires a little more effort and planning. Do I need to wear a suit every day? Will I need to buy some more socks? Will I fit in if I dress up too much? What will I gain by being the best dressed? This is kind of a weird goal but if you are trying to become the company’s next marketing manager, then this might be a good place to start. Be specific and make the goal 1st person “I will…”
“Do I have to have goals to achieve things in life?”
I think you do. Not, just because I said so but because of what I have heard and learned throughout my studies. I am not claiming to know how every person in the world thinks and reacts. I just know that there are many schools of thought on an infinite number of topics but one thing that doesn’t change from one person to the next is the need for you to have something to shoot for. The driving force that makes you want to get up everyday. For the budding entrepreneur it could be the golden ring, and for the missionary it could be the idea of saving a soul today. Something drives you and you should write it down and work at keeping those things in front of you.
Put it to Work
Who needs goals? Goals are for people who are dreamers. People who are getting things done have to be able to change on the fly. If all you think about is the future you will miss what is happening today.
This is a pile of you know what. Some people do hold this opinion. I am not one of those people. I know and understand the power of focus. I understand that without something to aim for you can, and will get off course. Water in a pond or a stream is so peaceful and calm, swimming pools are fun, and water is even used to wash babies. But, water focused and directed into a small point is powerful enough to cut steel. Water Jet lasers are very popular in manufacturing some products today. Companies can take a small amount of water and force it into a pinpoint nozzle and put enough force behind it to cut most any material.
This is the power that I am talking about. Focus. I mean intense one-track bullet train type focus. Set your mind to it and do it. Do it today, start planning now, find out what you need to know and start learning immediately. Don’t wait. You cannot afford to sit back and watch life pass you by. You cannot keep doing what you are doing but expect different results. That has been defined as the definition of insanity.
Get out a piece of paper and start writing down things you would like to accomplish in your life. Family events, job satisfaction, church involvement. You decide the things that are important to you and write those down. You have to write it down because you can’t organize it in your head. Seeing all of the goals on paper makes them real in your mind. Writing them down actually makes you see what you’ve been thinking and will give you some motivation to get things off of the list.
Now that you have a list of what’s important, now you can rewrite all of those into goal statements. Remember the “I will…” and then put a date to it. I mean decide how long you want the pursuit to take.
I will become more involved in church missions over the next 60 days.
Now that’s a goal you can work towards. Now complete the task by brainstorming on ideas that will help you attain your goal. For my example you would need to find out who is the missions minister at your church. Find out what type of mission work you would be interested in doing and find out what type of work your church is already involved in. Talk to people in the community about where you can be the most helpful. Find out when the next church mission event is and find some ways you can clear you schedule to make time for the work.
This is just a start but you can see that there are many action items that can be associated with accomplishing a goal. The loftier the goal then the more steps and the longer it will take to complete. Don’t stop there. After you have completed a goal make sure you replace it with another one. You should always be moving and always working to improve you. You should be making strides to ensure that your life is one that is filled with joy and rewards.
Put the list somewhere you will see it every day. Keep the list up to date, as you complete the smaller items fill in the date completed and compare that to the overall goal deadline. Make sure you keep yourself motivated. Motivation is a very tricky thing. The same things do not motivate all people; some require more motivation than others. Make sure you share your goal list with someone that can hold you accountable. Find someone who will put you on the spot if they see that you are not staying with the timetable. You set the schedule so be realistic but also be aware of the lazy monster that we all have inside of us. You have to find the things and the people in your life that will keep you motivated.
When you accomplish a goal make sure you tell people. You should reward yourself in some way, go to dinner or take the day off. Make sure people you are close to and most importantly, your accountability partner; know that you have taken a bite out of your goals list. Don’t get stuck trying to conquer the world and forget that you have more than one goal on your list. You don’t have to go in order or one by one. Some goals may have similar small steps that can be accomplished together.
Review and Reissue
Every once in a while you should review your goals list and reissue a new one that has been modified to reflect where you are today. Maybe some doors have been opened to you that weren’t there before. Maybe your priorities have changed. You just need to make sure you have something tangible that will keep you focused. You need something that you can put your hands on and see the results of you labor.
It has been said:
“If you are going to change some things in your life, then you are going to have to change some things in your life.”
And
Proverbs 4:25-26
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.