I am joining the ranks of bloggers who have crafted their New Year's post to discuss goals and what the future holds for them this year (check out one from my brother Chrys here). The year 2020 was a year full of reflection and made us all take a step back and realize the holes in our lives that need to be patched up. An inventory of areas that are lacking is made as we meditate on a solid list of goals that we would like to accomplish. We get zealous in making our goals and we start the year off with a "this year will be different!" If you're like me, you make a ton of goals so that no sector of life is left out. If you're curious, I have set out to fulfill 20 goals this year. These goals are ranging from finances to physical fitness, and spiritual discipline to occupational improvement. Twenty goals can seem overwhelming and can often be scoffed at by the non-goal setters and Anti-New Years Resolutioners, but I am up for the task with my head held high as I set out to accomplish all I want to do this year. Will I fail? There will be days, maybe weeks, where I most certainly fail. Just because I fail, doesn't mean I can't get back up again.
The question you may be asking yourself is, "Why in the world would you want to even attempt 20 different goals? Isn't one to three good enough?" Well, in a way... yes, one to three is good enough. The problem with that is you are leaving out entire areas of your life that likely need work too. Think about it for a second: If you only plan to lose weight, read your bible in a year, and pay off debt... what about occupational goals? What about improving in your hobby? If I only had those three goals this year, the podcast that I co-host with my brother Jimmy would be left completely off the table and I wouldn't have any plans to make it better or find ways to plan to improve it. So, yes, I could have just a small number of goals to shoot for in the name of focus and tenacity, but why only improve on three areas of my life when I can improve on at least ten?
What we have to realize with goal setting is that if you are going to live out certain roles in your life, you may as well plan to attack each of them with a plan. Yes, planning with a plan is the first step in offense and without it there is seemingly no direction. We are going to be in the midst of those roles anyway, why not at least give a head nod to those areas? Let's say your main objectives are the three goals I mentioned earlier, you can always make those three your primary focus and, borrowing from the gaming community, make the other seven, or however many, your "side quests" for the year. Either way, planning is incredibly important and I am a big time believer in "Failure to plan is planning to fail."
Before I go any further, the Bible is clear when it comes to planning as Proverbs 16:9 blatantly says that I can plan all I want to but God is in complete control and has the final say. If you look back just a few verses to Proverbs 16:3, we can for sure glorify God in our goal setting and He assures us that if it glorifies Him then He will establish it. We even see a few chapters later in Provers 21:5 that "the plans of the diligent lead to abundance." This isn't quite the "prosperity" message that it may come off to be, but when Scripture assures us that if we aren't lazy and we actually commit ourselves to doing what we can to glorify God in all things and in all areas of life out of the loving obedience we give in response to his gracious care for us, we can find comfort and satisfaction in serving our God through our lives and in all of our lives.
The real purpose of this post is to those who may scoff at the idea of setting any goals or "resolutions" in the new year. Time and time again we see gym parking lots fill to the max while the people that have been going for the last 7 months roll their eyes as they know around tax time most people will have lost motivation. Here lies the problem with the yearly disintegrating of goals: We don't show ourselves any grace to fail. We can make grand plans to kill it this year and to make things happen, but the second we can't check the box off we get discouraged and feel like its pointless. Even worse, we go a week or a month without even accomplishing the first day of what you set out to do and immediately our response is "so much for that!" The biggest encouragement I can give is to show yourself some grace and realize that just because it's not January 1, that doesn’t mean you are unable to start all over. If you go three weeks of eating healthy and then you have to go to a birthday party or even a Super Bowl party with a ton of nachos and sliders, you don't have to just abandon ship! You can always pick back up where you left off and get after it.
If you are unwilling to remind yourself of why you are setting out to accomplish your goals when you are struggling to accomplish them, then of course you'll forget about them and move on. That's why writing them down is important and that's why explaining in a journal entry or a quick sentence next to your goals about why you're doing this is crucial. It's easy to just write "read bible in a a year," but when you write "Read the Bible in a year so that I can use the Word of God to fight off anxiety and reassure myself of His unconditional love for me and to praise Him to the best of my ability," you see the power and reasons why it was such a crucial goal for you to begin with. Seeing the why of doing things is a powerful reminder of what's at the end of the work!
Here is a couple of questions you can ask yourself in light of making your goals:
Is the work worth it?
Is the work beneficial to just me or is it beneficial to someone else?
Am I doing this alone or is someone going to do it with me?
If I am doing it alone, is there anyone I can ask for accountability?
At what cost will this goal come at and am I willing to pay the toll?
As you embark on your journey to better yourself, show yourself grace. Enjoy the journey or you'll never appreciate the destination. Find people that will hold you accountable and check in with them and let them know how things are going. If they aren't going well, don't be discouraged! Be reminded that any day is "Day 1" and now is always time for change. No one can do it for you and no one will do it for you. You have to want it yourself and make things happen. Think about your life and what it could be. Think about all the times you've said "man... if only I did this," or "if only I felt like that" and all of the other what if moments. Then, think about all the times you've felt guilty or ashamed that you didn't do something. Take the feeling you get when you know you have skipped out on something you should have done and how terrible it feels. Take that and remind yourself that you aren't going to feel like that today. Take that and tell yourself out loud that you are going to do what you said you were going to do so that you can feel good about knowing you did it. Build the discipline and enjoy the benefits.
Comments
Post a Comment