Life goals for the Christian
About 10 years ago, I wrote my first sermon to myself. It was titled ‘Why I cannot afford to be poor’. This sermon included about 30 or so reasons why I needed to be financially successful. Over the next few years, I would periodically bring out the sermon from the inner recesses of my mind. I would reflect on how my ‘circumstances’ didn’t matched up with my ‘experience’. Through the years the reasons to be successful have not fundamentally changed. They are still relevant today. The main aim is to have enough resources to fulfil the will of God for my life.
I knew I had to change somewhat to achieve the ‘ideals’ that I had. In my secular work, I was making progress. My income was increasing; however my expenditures were also increasing. Those who know me know that I am keen to learn, discuss, seek help and would consider myself a risk taker. I read books and biographies of successful people.
Prior to developing my life goals, I always set yearly goals: normally starting at the beginning of the year and then I’d review them at the end of the year. The most I have ever been able to achieve was perhaps 60% of what I’d committed to paper. I start the process all over again the next year. Again I went through the motions of being disappointed at the end of the year. How sad that I did not think that something needed to change. I guess it’s called ignorance.
With the absence of a clearly planned life, other people’s priorities and opinions ‘clouded’ my life. I was like the wind being tossed in different directions. Instead of taking charge of life, life was taking charge of me. My ideals and dreams have been just that. In reality, I was cruising through life aimlessly – not fitting in any overall picture. I have had many prophetic words and dreams of what I want to achieve but in the absence of a clearly defined plan, they became conflicting priorities and the ‘thought’ of the day won.
All this was about to change.I started to plan out my life again but this time purposefully -‘To plan my life around the dreams and prophetic words that I had been given’.
I started capturing the lessons of the last few years and make those years useful. I captured certain aspects of my life in summative form, instead of the continual process of trying to discover the areas that I needed to build on. As a result, I now have a better understanding of myself and areas that need to be developed. I also have a better understanding of my skills, abilities, likes and dislikes – all of which has made the process of setting these life goals easier. Therefore time could be ‘retrieved’ and ‘redeemed’ with memory and concentration.
The end of each year is now a period of reflection, rather than a period of setting new goals. Of course, I add new goals and delete a few. After all, goals are expandable and are not meant to be static but I have the overall satisfaction that my life is going in a purposeful direction.
While we may be armed with a revelation of our special assignment here on earth, many of us have failed to plan our lives accordingly. Goal setting is a powerful process for personal planning. It enables us to move step by step towards the achievement of our dreams. It directs the course of our lives. Because we know precisely what we want to achieve, we know what we have to concentrate on to do it. We also recognise those things that are merely distractions. Goal setting techniques are used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. They give us long-term vision and short-term motivation. They focus our acquisition of knowledge and help us to organise our time and resources so that we can make the very most of our lives. Knowing our goals makes us more likely to achieve them.
By setting sharply and clearly defined goals, we can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. We can see progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By setting goals, we will also raise our confidence, as we recognise our ability and competence in achieving the goals that we have set.
About the Author: Ola Aroyehun is the editor of ‘The Christian Business Magazine’ – a magazine dedicated to applying biblical truths to the world of business. She has a desire to see Christians be ‘students’ of the word and not just ‘readers of the world’. For more information on life goals and other related information, register for the free newsletter at www.christianbusinessonthenet.com
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Print Article | Download PDF | 65 views | Mar 03 2008
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