Goal Setting for 2010 pt. 2
I love this time of year. It is our family tradition to spend the holidays, Christmas and New Year’s, in Florida. It has a huge impact on me. I like how Mark Batterson says it in the following formula: “Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective.” That is exactly what happens. My perspective is completely different. My normal routine is gone; I don’t have job deadlines. I see more clearly. It is a great time for reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the year to come. In my previous post on goal setting, I shared with you Mark Batterson’s steps 1-5 to setting goals. I would like to give you steps 6-10.
6) Write Down Your Goals: if you want to remember it, then write it down. I just downloaded a new computer program call Evernote. It syncs with my cell phone and my laptop. I use this note taking software to keep track of everything in my life. I have my 2010 goals listed in the very place where I will see them everyday.
7)Include Others: It is very important to share your goals with your closest friends and family members. Our family has a tradition of sharing our goals during dinner on New Year’s Eve. I also know that at some point, Luann and I will sit down and go over our goals together. This provides accountability and encouragement.
Celebrate Along the Way: during our New Year’s Eve dinner, I know we will all have the opportunity to share how we did on our previous year’s goals. Some goals I will have not attained(like my goal to memorize Ephesians); there are other goals I did accomplish(like running my first two triathlons). We need to celebrate our successes!
9)Think Big: Michelangelo said: “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it; but that it is too low and we reach it.” Goals will always vary in size and scope. Setting a big goal will make you depend on God like never before. Even if you don’t achieve the goal, setting a big goal has changed you. You are depending on God more and that is what being a Christ follower is all about. And besides, with God’s help, you just might hit your goal!
10)Keep Dreaming: if you stop dreaming, you will stop growing. And if you stop growing, you start dying. As long as you have air to breathe, God has a purpose for you being here. Goal setting is really about living life to the fullest.
One last point. You might say, “I am not a goal oriented person.” You might want to become one. I really believe goal setting is all about being a good steward of what you have…your time, your treasure, and your talent. As I get ready to turn 40 this year, it is becoming ever so clearer to me that I don’t have as much time left. I better max out what I do have. Goals help us to do just that.
