GOAL SETTING FOR A BETTER LIFE

I had a little conversation the other day with my daughter and her roommate and I want to have the same conversation with you as I did with them. They are both sophomores in college and the dreaded “sophomore slump” hit them. Both had lost their perspective of where they are going and their route to the goal. Are you in the same boat? Without a goal and without a plan to achieve that goal you will be frustrated your whole life.


I had a little conversation the other day with my daughter and her roommate and I want to have the same conversation with you as I did with them. They are both sophomores in college and the dreaded “sophomore slump” hit them. Both had lost their perspective of where they are going and their route to the goal. Are you in the same boat? Without a goal and without a plan to achieve that goal you will be frustrated your whole life.
The proverbial “sophomore slump” happens right in the middle of the college experience, far enough away from the excitement of something new and far enough away from the goal (graduating) that people loose sight of why they are even there. Those people that don’t experience the dreaded slump are usually the ones that really know what they want and it is a passion with them. Life is like that both incrementally and as a whole. What I mean by this is that you have to have short term goals and long term goals. That is why the Hope of Christ’s return is so important.
All the elements of the “Sophomore Slump” show up in our lives if we loose sight of the return of Jesus Christ for His church. The excitement of childhood is gone and there is nothing to look forward to but Monday night football and the daily grind.
So here are the principles for goal setting and living a more productive life than you ever thought possible.
SHORT TERM GOALS
Get in a quite place by yourself. Reflect on what you want to do or accomplish, where you want to be and who you want to be a year from now. WRITE THESE DOWN ON PAPER AND KEEP THEM. Review them throughout the year. After you have written them down write a map on how you are going to get there. The more specific that you are the better chance you will have of achieving those goals It is not enough to say “I want a new car” because that is not specific enough. Say, “I want a new Toyota Camry” or “I want a new Chevy Silverado crew cab pickup truck with leather seats, six CD changer Bose sound system with power windows and power locks. It is going to be white with a grey interior, heated seats, air conditioning, etc” those are examples. You fill out your own goals. Or if you want to be out of debt then write that down along with what debts you want to get out from under. Then make the game plan that is going to get you out from under the pressure of those debts.
Some ideas to help you get out of debt are stop spending money that you don’t have. Don’t go out to eat at home, sell the fancy car and get an older car that doesn’t have the huge monthly payment. Down size your monthly house payment by moving to a smaller house or just find as nice of a house as you have now but with a smaller monthly payment. Get another job until you pay off your debt. There must be hundreds of ways to get out of debt. You must be willing to expand your thinking. After all it was your old way of thinking that got you here in the first place.
I heard somewhere that it is OK to build castles in the sky as long as you build foundations underneath them and that is very true for all of our lives.
Just the mere fact that you are putting you goals on paper will get you further than you will ever gone without writing them down.
The intermediate goals should be five years and if you want 10 years. These are goals such as graduating college, getting married, having kids, being the CEO of some large corporation etc. The principles for the one year goals are the same that you would do for the five or the ten year goals. Write them down, draw the map to the goal, be specific and detailed and review them throughout the year.
Most importantly, after you have written down your goals take action. You can’t take the second step until you take the first step. Get busy!
Update your goals from time to time, also. As we go through life our wants and need change so it is OK to change our goals. Life is dynamic and your goal setting should be, also.
The one thing that shouldn’t change on your goal list is the hoping for the return of Christ. This is what keeps us humble. It anchors our soul. We know that through the trials of life that this life isn’t the end all, that we have a wonderful life coming with new bodies, no sorrow or suffering and we are with God. (I Thess. 4:13-18)
I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Goal setting helps you get where you want to be. Isn’t it nice that the greatest goal of all came free of charge when you did two simple things confessed with your mouth that Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
God is good and life is good!