How many times have you written the same goals, the same plans, the same desires over and over on your “things to accomplish this year” list?
Why Setting Goals Has Not Worked in the Past
The reason you do not accomplish them is because of the following:
- The goal was unrealistic. You tried to bite off a bigger piece than you could chew. You spit it out and quit.
- The goal was not from your heart, but from your mind.
- You did not think at all to make a plan for the year.
How to Successfully Set Goals
Let’s talk about each one:
1. The goal was unrealistic.
The reason you failed when you set an unrealistic goal is because there is too much time that has to go by before there is any reward or satisfaction in accomplishing the goal. This is because you are looking at the end result instead of the journey. Remember the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step, then the second.
Life is a journey and a major key in living life to the full is to enjoy the journey more than the destination. Learn how to live life to the full in the wilderness receiving manna from heaven each day rather than waiting until you get to the Promised Land, before you start living life to the full. How many live their lives in non-fulfilling jobs/careers and just exist for weekends, vacations and the hope of retirement? What a sad way of a life for God’s most precious creation, the one that He designed to live every moment to the full with passion and purpose.
Remember THIS is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. One way to start living everyday and every moment to the full is live them as if they were your last. How many cancer survivors have said they now appreciate the beauty of the sunrise and sunset and the simple pleasures of just being instead of always doing? Take time to live every moment to the full.
2. The goal was not from your heart
If you make goals from your mind instead of planning a course of action to achieve the desire of your heart, you will usually fail; and if you do succeed, it will be with much struggle and suffering. Make sure your goals or plans are aligned with what God has put in your heart rather than what the world system has programmed into your head.
Does your head or your heart want to make a million dollars? If it’s your head, it usually feeds your ego causing the thoughts of either “look at me, I am someone” or thoughts of “I have made it now, I can relax in life”. God did not create us to relax in our own work but to rest in being one with Him and out of that being comes a constant flow of doing His will in this world. God did not create you to sit back and retire, but to be His physical representation on earth.
If it is your heart desire to make the money, then it is for a specific reason, and when you are filled up with the Spirit of God, He will show you that reason. To be fulfilled in this life, we must follow the desires of our heart, not our head or mind. God gives you the desires of your heart because He put them in your heart in the first place.
For Part 2 of this series, please click on How to Set Goals and Create a Mission Statement (Part 2).
