Get the Goals You Set

Make Progress Every Week

What goals did you set this year? Get any of them yet? Maybe you gave up? Perhaps you forgot? Possibly you are frustrated or disappointed?

I can relate to all of the above.

I am afflicted and blessed with ADHD (attention deficient hyperactivity disorder). It’s easy for me to forget and get frustrated. Much of my career is littered with goals not gotten.  Thank God I have learned over the past 15 years how to better harness my gifts and passions into goals accomplished.

If it’s not too late for me at age 73, it’s not too late for you. Consider practicing these four success principles…

Make It Worth It

Set goals that are related to important areas of your life…

• Family
• Friends
• Health
• Wealth
• Work

It’s got to be worth it to work on it. View your goals with an upward focus. You are God’s creation – body, soul and spirit. Remember that God knows the plans He has for you, plans for hope and a future. Be prayerful, intentional and alert to…

Press on toward the goal for the prize of

the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

Be Smart

Invest time, money and effort in you. Plan your activities using SMART goals:

Specific: Set goals that are measurable. Define exactly what you want to accomplish.

Moderate: Select 2-5 goals per week. Too many goals can be overwhelming.

Accountability: Show and tell somebody what you plan to do, and how you did.

Record: It is helpful and motivating to keep a written record of your goals and progress.

Time-activated: Put in your calendar goals by days and times during the week.

Review & Preview Weekly

You can power your career, hope, and future every week – Sunday through Saturday.

Every Saturday, look back over the past week.

Celebrate by making a list of accomplishments and blessings related to people, places, things or activities. Enjoy whatever success and happiness no matter how apparently small. Make notes on what you learned that might help you develop, grow and advance.  Give thanks and praise God from Whom all blessings flow

Every Sunday, look into the coming week.

Write a list of goals that are specific, measurable and in alignment with what is important and urgent. Think about what help you will need. Take your thoughts captive in obedience to Christ. Pray for God’s vision, wisdom and strength.

To help you get the goals you set, download a free copy of our Weekly Progress Review & Preview Exercise. For more about goals for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, get a copy of our Crossroads Career Work Book and read Step 1 Upward.

Every Day Matters

Printed on the front of one of my favorite T-shirts was the phrase “Every Day Matters.” Friends liked it so much that I bought another 20 shirts and gave them away.

Why?

Because life is lived one day a time. Weekly planning is important, but to get to goals I set, I give each day its best possible start…

• I begin praying as soon as I wake up. I grab my phone and notebook and head to my reading chair for a half-hour or so.
• I read and sometimes study Scripture verses featured in phone apps from YouVersion and Jesus Calling.
• Notes are written in a composition book that I use as a daily prayer journal. My thoughts are listed on the left side of each page. Thoughts I believe are from God go on the right side.
• At the top of one of the pages I write To Do To Day. I circle and star the most important or urgent to-dos. Throughout the day, I check to see I am on track, sometimes adding and subtracting items.

Each day contains 1,440 minutes — each one a gift from God. Be a faithful steward of your time according to the need of each moment. Let me share verses that encourage me to keep on keeping on:

…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…

Hebrews 12:2 NASB