Proverbs 21:5
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to make goals. A few weeks ago in a post entitled, “Why Today is the Day to Think About Your Goals” I encouraged readers to begin praying about the goals that God would have them go after. If you haven’t yet done that, now is the time to start!
If you’re ready to start putting your goals in writing (after all, they are not goals if they are not written down), let me offer a couple suggestions.
First, I would suggest if you are serious about reaching your goals, you create several SMART goals.
SMART is a simple acronym for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Specific: Often people fail to reach their goals because they are too vague; therefore, be as specific as you can when writing your goals. Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what you are going to do. For example, instead of saying, “I want to get healthy” (what does that even mean?) try, “I want to loose 10 pounds by June 1st by losing 2 pounds a month.”
Measurable: Goals should be measurable so that you have visible evidence that you have accomplished the goal. Consider adding a date, number, etc. to your goal to help make it measurable.
Attainable: Attainable goals are those that stretch you a bit so you feel challenged, but are within your skill and ability level to achieve. Keep in mind that you can accomplish most goals when you create a plan with a timeline and take one step at a time towards accomplishing it.
Realistic: Setting realistic goals does not simply mean creating goals that are easy, or require little effort to achieve. Realistic goals are those that you are both willing and able to work towards. While a goal may initially seem overwhelming, again, by taking one step at a time towards your goal, even the out of reach goals can become realistic.
Timely: Creating a timeframe is critical to achieving your goals as a timeframe provides you with a sense of urgency. Without such motivation goals are unlikely to be achieved.
Alright, so now for my second suggestion for goal setting: set some goals that are not SMART.
If SMART goals are so great, you may be wondering why I would suggest that not all of your goals be SMART. I’ll give you two reasons: achievable and realistic. While I would say that it is absolutely necessary to have several goals that fit into these two categories, if you are a Christian you serve a God who knows no limits. Doing what is unachievable and unrealistic in your life by your own abilities is God’s specialty!
Matthew 19:26 tells us, “With God all things are possible.”
Because you serve a God Who can do the impossible, make sure you have some impossible goals on your list. Why? So that when you achieve them you will know Who the credit belongs to and God will be glorified. Also, isn’t life just a bit more fun when we trust God to do the impossible in our lives? How boring it would be to go after only goals that we know are achievable and realistic by our own efforts – snooze fest!
So go ahead, throw some God sized goals on your list (that you have prayed over and are motivated by God’s glory, not your own) and just see what God can do!
I’m excited! If you’ve written your goals down, I’d love for you to send me a message and tell me a few of them so I can be praying for you!
My prayer for you today is that you will experience God’s power in your life like never before in 2016!
Blessings,
Lynne
