I posted a few days back that I don't believe in making New Years Resolutions. What I said was true, I don't make big goals for each year just because it is a new year. Rather, I like to set small goals for myself daily - keeping the future in mind so that I don't loose sight of the bigger picture; which is God's will for my life.
Goal setting is a great way to achieve progress in any area of your life, and I have seen my productivity improve greatly by just setting a few very small goals. Throughout the past eighteen months, I have been intentionally setting goals for myself. I have seen quite a few failures, and I have seen some success along the way. The good news is that I learned from all of the failures and grew from the successes. Here are 10 things that I have accomplished:
1. Graduated from college a semester early.
2. Read my Bible cover-to-cover twice (not counting class-work).
3. I read 75 books last year (Not counting the Bible).
4. I have significantly cut down the number of hours spent on my Xbox.
5. I filled 9 journals with writing.
6. I went to Turkey
7. Made a lot of new friends (May not sound like a big accomplishment, but it is something I'm working on).
8. I'm a lot happier and content with where God has me in life.
9. I found a full-time job that I really enjoy.
10. I have made it to the point where I am making enough money to live on my own (Still working on getting all of my things out of my Parent's house...Soon mom, I promise). ;-)
Now, for most of you, these may not seem like great accomplishments at all. That's fine! I'm not you and you're not me. God is using each of us in different ways, and I think that is very cool. These accomplishments are all the direct result of me making small goals, and each of them has contributed towards growing me into a more faithful man. I am a firm believer that setting goals is one of the best way to improve your life if you just remember to start small and keep God as your priority.
The goal I set for myself this week (and for the rest of my life) came directly from Colossians Chapter 3. Paul wrote to the church of Colosse, "Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Colossian 3:2). That has been my goal and it has not been easy. However, it has been very beneficial. Re-directing my focus back to God's word and His plan for my life has reinvigorated my joy and has given me more energy than I've had in awhile. I had almost forgotten where my strength and ability come from, but God is good, and I pray that He will redeem the time I spent out of focus.
A Few Questions:
1.What kind of goals have you set for yourself?
2.Do you think setting goals can be useful?
3.Do you find it hard to set goals for yourself?
-Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment