We often wait to reach the half way mark of the year before we start looking at our goals again and assessing how well we are doing. But I don’t think we should wait that long before we take another look at what we’ve achieved so far, how well we’ve done or how far we’ve strayed from our intended goals.
So, today I had a look at the more detailed notes I have for each goal in my goals journal and I noticed that
a) I had forgotten some things I wrote down and if I used what I wrote as a measurement of my success I wasn’t doing so well, and
b) perhaps I was a little too eager and excited and gave myself targets that were to high to reach.
And finally, C) I noticed that in the last few weeks I have focused more on achieving some goals and have not payed any attention at all to some others.
I’ve been asking myself if perhaps I gave myself to much to focus on in a short time. My goals are centered around the theme of development and having some tangible results at the end of the year. So for instance, I want to develop myself academically which obviously means that I will have some sort of qualification from a short course or will be enrolled on a course by the end of the year as evidence of that development. I also hope to see development spiritually, so I tasked myself to study particular sections and topics in the Bible in addition to my daily reading activity. I also want to develop my mind and broaden my thinking so I’m adding reading a new book every month on my list of things to do to achieve my goals, which in turn will also build my library.
These are just a few of the goals I put down, but as you can see this will inevitably place a demand on my time and finances and will also mean that I feel underdeveloped and stunted in my growth if I don’t meet my daily, weekly or monthly targets.
I’m sure you’re starting to see the importance of reviewing goals and assessing how practical the plans you’ve made are. No matter how smart your goals are they can out smart you if they don’t practically fit your current life style. Yes, of course you should be willing to change, but don’t make goals that will require you to make too many changes at the same time in a short space of time.
But here is what is even more important, No matter how smart your goals are and no matter how smart you are in working towards your goals, you CANNOT OUT SMART GOD!
Your goals are incomplete if you have not made spiritual goals, and they cannot be achieved if you do not priorities your spiritual goals. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). You and I are the the Kingdom, and righteousness is our right standing with God, which is only made possible through the help of God, a thing we enjoy as a result of our relationship with Him.
The other thing we need to remember is that as we work towards our goals we need to constantly check what our motivations are. Is my desire to develop myself in 2018 godly? Am I driven by godly motivations, to please God with my growth and become the person that God wants me to be or am I focused on just getting it done and being able to say that I ticked of things on my list? You can work towards achieving your goals and do so well at this, but can be feeding of on the wrong motives. You might go on for years achieving all your goals before realizing that something is missing. It is the reason (purpose) behind what you do and not what you do that brings true fulfillment.
So, what am I taking away from my experience this afternoon? My focus needs to remain on being motivated on the advancement of God’s Kingdom in me and the promotion of righteousness as I work towards fulfilling my goals. I also see that there is a time for everything and that I cannot do everything at once, but I must stick to what is important and what I’ve decided to do now, being faithful and committed to it.
My prayer is, as always, that God causes what our hands find to do to prosper and makes us find rest in the fulfillment of all He has promised us in this year.
We Grow in Faith 