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Goal setting is so exciting!!

Goal setting is the process of making our hope, dreams, and aspirations a reality. It requires determination, grit, and commitment as we lay out our plans to accomplish those dreams.

On November 4, 2018, I started a Facebook Live series called Goals (watch the first video here) I also decided to share it here because I’m convinced goal setting is vital to getting the most out of this God-given life.

• And I also have the deep seeded belief: If we are not intentional with our efforts we will
• Miss opportunities
• Become complacent
• Plod along wasting our time and efforts
• Not accomplish that which God has set out for us to do

So what are your goals?

What would you like to achieve?

Where is God leading you, and what does He want for you to accomplish?

This past January I wrote a series called I Resolve To

• I Resolve To…
• I Resolve To…No Excuses
• I Resolve To…Breaking It Down

When I made these resolutions, these goals, I was confident I had everything figured out and was good to go.

• I made the goal poster
• I brought everything before God in prayer
• I believed (and still believe) God blessed and affirmed all my goals
• I broke down all my goals into bite-sized pieces
• I laid it all out and created deadlines

Then LIFE happened before I had a chance to get traction and momentum going on any of them! (See my blog post When Crap Spews)

From January until March all I did was play catch up. I was working, striving—getting nowhere. I was exhausted. Discouraged. Frustrated. I felt like a failure and wanted to quit. By the end of March, I was an empty shell, so I went before God with my goal chart, written goals, and “schedule” and handed them over to Him while I asked many questions

• Did I hear you wrong?
• Am I cut out for this whole writing thing?
• Should I keep going or call it quits?
• Should I eliminate some or all of these goals?
• Should I start over?

Friend, I was LOST! Utterly lost. Ever been there?

See, I believed, and still do believe, those goals all originated with Jesus. None of the goals I laid before Him would have ever come from me: growing a tribe, publishing, blogging, and speaking. He planted those goals in my heart and nurtured them into dreams, aches, desires! Even the determination to get healthy, fit and lose weight came from Him. So as I sat there in pure bewilderment as to why things weren’t going according to (my) plan, I prayed. And over the next several weeks I got my answer:

My plans were falling flat because

• I wasn’t including God in EVERY step of the process AND
• I missed a few critical steps in my goal setting

No bueno.

And because I am so passionate about goal setting, I committed to sharing what I’ve learned so you won’t make the same mistakes I did. Beloved, I want you to be successful not just in your goal setting but also in your goal achieving. When January 1st rolls around I want you to have real resolutions made and planned out; not something that’s created in the heat of the moment or out of an emotional response in the wee hours of the morning and then packed away in the attic with the other forgotten relics by February 1st.

Determining Home Base:
Goal setting is like Google Maps

Google uses several satellites to pinpoint exactly where you are the moment you open the app or website. They provide your starting point or home base so all you need to do is type in where you want to go and let Google tell you how to get there, often with multiple choices.

However, in life, we don’t have satellites to tell us where our home base is. We have to determine that ourselves with an HONEST self-evaluation. I also recommend bringing other “satellites,” friends and loved ones, who know your well and will be honest with you about your strengths and weaknesses. It’s often easier for those on the outside looking in to see things in us that we can’t or don’t want to see.

What do I mean by HONEST self-evaluation?

If one of the Google satellites is off by the slightest fraction of a degree, everything will be off! Google will tell you, you’re someplace you’re not—your home base won’t be your true reality. And the directions from there would also be off causing you to be exponentially more lost than you were at the start. The same is true for your self-evaluation. If you’re NOT HONEST, you won’t have your true home base. And the goals you set will not come to fruition because you will get ridiculously lost—just like I did.

Give yourself Grace

As you do your self-evaluation, GIVE YOURSELF GRACE! THIS IS NOT A SHAMING EXERCISE!

This is an evaluation to determine where your starting point is. Period! This will help you in analysis and determining your path to get you to where you want to be. And later, when you look back, you’ll have the joy of seeing how far you’ve come. This will give your the encouragement you need to keep going, especially when thing get hard.

Evaluation Process

• Grab a Bible, pen, and paper/notebook/journal
• Read and pray through Psalm 139,
• • I wrote out one verse at a time and then wrote my prayerful response to each one.
• • This took me a while, but when I was finished I felt ready and open to God
• Write verses 23 and 24 at the top of your page and your heart
• Ask God
• • to help you see the things you don’t want to see
• • to be brave and courageous
• • to protect you from Satan’s efforts to shame you
• Look into all areas of your life.

The reason I want you to look at ALL areas of your life is that any goal you set will affect several if not all areas of your life. This is not something I gave a lot of thought to. I thought of my goals as isolated things, I put them in a box. I would have been able to be more successful if I had thought to this.

Example: A fitness goal. This will be a physical goal. But it also affects your

• mental health (endorphins)
• finances (equipment or gym membership)
• time management (incorporating that into your schedule)
• social (could meet fabulous new people)
• work/student life (better able to focus)
• spiritual (empowering you to have more strength and energy to do what God has called you to do.)

As you do your evaluation, write it down! It will help you later with your analysis and help you see how each goal affects others areas of your life. And like I already stated, it will also be nice to look back and see how far you’ve come.

Here are some ideas to get you started

Physical

Nutrition
Fitness
Health/chronic illness
Rest

Mental

Still learning/stretching your mind
Challenged
Reading
Learning new skills
Emotional
Anxiety
Stress
Ability to rebound

Psychological

Depression?
Mental Illness?
Eating disorder?

Social

Introvert or extrovert
Friends
Engaging with people on a deeper, non-surface level

Financial

Budgeting
Spending more than you make
Saving
Debt

Relationships

What are they like
Who are they with
Strong/Weak
Balanced
Healthy
Controlling
Absorbed

Spiritual

Prayer
Daily time in the Word
Church
Small group
Discipleship

Work Life/ Student Life

Challenged
Giving your best effort
Completing tasks with excellence
Working for God as for men

Time management

Netflix
Social media
Video games
Projects
Family time
Alone time

Blessings xoxo

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