How to Set Goals

I hope you and your family had a great CHRISTmas. Our family did as always. It was nice seeing family, eating all the goodies, and exchanging gifts, but most of all celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Now, I am ready to regroup and focus on 2011. I love the week between CHRISTmas and New Year's when I can think back on the previous year and plan for the next. I am going to share how I set goals and make plans for the new year. There is more to it than just saying, "I want to lose weight," or "I want to do _____ less/more." It requires much more.

First, it is good to clearly think about what the big picture is or who you want to be at the end of the year. It might be desiring to be closer to the Lord, having more Biblical knowledge, being thinner and healthier, being more focused on family, and/or advanced in a skill you want to learn more about.

Then, you want to start with your most important goals. In my life, that is spiritual goals. I desire each year to strengthen my walk with the Lord through prayer, Bible reading/study, and teaching Luke more Biblical truths. You write the specific goal, ie "I want to read the Bible in a Year."

Next, you put a goal date on it. For reading the Bible in a year, your goal day would obviously be "December 31st, 2011". The key is putting a realistic date on it. Make sure you could meet it, but that it will require you to work hard.

Then, you put a daily plan to it. For reading the Bible in a year, your daily plan would be "Read the Bible daily based on the reading plan." Basically giving yourself a daily plan breaks your goal down into small, attainable steps and gives you a daily check point to keep you on plan.

Lastly, you want to write down anything you need to do ahead of time to make it easier to jump in on January 1st. For reading the Bible in a year, you would "Get a Bible in a Year reading plan and put it with my Bible; and put my Bible and reading plan where I plan to read it daily."

Now, instead of just flippantly saying what you want to do, you have a written goal, date, daily plan, and list of things to do to get you started when you are ready. I really hope this has helped you guys. I am going to post my goals and plans for 2011 in another post to give you an idea of what I really mean. Plus, posting it will help me because I know you guys will know what I am supposed to be doing. ;)

Take Care!