Thankfully, I don’t have to figure it all out on my own.
Enter the pros.
Last week I got a chance to listen to a podcast from Karen DeBeus called ‘Simplify the New Year‘ and a webinar by Michael Hyatt on the ’10 Biggest Goal-Setting Mistakes’. I really appreciated each of their perspectives and thought I’d share some of the things I learned from them with you.
Before I jump into the tips, I’ll start by saying that setting goals is something that we can do any time of the year. In fact, it is a very biblical concept as these scriptures show.
Psalm 20:4 May <God> give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
Proverbs 12:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Luke 14:28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
So as we set goals and make plans, what are some of the things we should keep in mind?
Set Goals like a Pro
- Keep it Simple
This tip is based on Karen DeBeus’ message. We have to be careful that we don’t get fooled into believing that we need to have the right planner, the right number of goals, or the right way to de-clutter in order to achieve our goals. No. What we need first and foremost is a deep, meaningful relationship with God.
This really reinforced my One Word for the year and the concept that God is ENOUGH. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Tips 2 – 6 are based on Michael Hyatt’s 10 Biggest Goal-Setting Mistakes webinar:
- Avoid Tunnel vision
Seek to balance your goals rather than focusing on just one area of your life. For me, the one goal I’ve set so far relates to my spiritual life. As I continue making plans I will also focus on areas of my marriage, business, etc.
- Write Goals Down
Goals that are not written are unlikely to be accomplished. When we write them down we start to commit to them and are more likely to succeed. Guess what I will be doing? Writing them down!
Tweet This- Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Our goals should stretch us a bit. If we don’t have good reasons to get them done, we simply will leave them by the wayside.
- Make Your Goals Compelling
This is tied to getting out of our comfort zone. According to Michael Hyatt one of the reasons we give up on our goals is because they’re not compelling enough. We know this well. When life gets too busy we tend to leave those goals behind. Knowing my why behind my goals will help me to stick with them.
- Make Your Goals Visible
I’ve done a vision board for my One Word for the last couple of years. I plan to be doing that again this year but I also love the simplicity of a typed list that’s framed and sitting on your desk. With your goals right in front of you it’s pretty hard to forget about them.
If you’re interested, Michael Hyatt has a ton of information on his site about setting goals that you might find helpful. You can browse his articles here.
- Leave it to God
Finally, I’m not a pro, but for this last tip, I refer to the ultimate authority–the Bible! This is what the Scripture says:
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. – Psalm 37:5
You can find my New Year’s goal-setting tips here or check out my number one goal setting resource (affiliate link).
For a child-friendly version, read Helping Kids Set Goals: Big, Audacious and Achievable.
What about you?
Do you have a goal-setting tip you would like to share?
Which Bible verse helps you stay focused on your goals?
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with a friend using one of the share buttons below? I love to spread the shine and hope you would too!
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Wishing you blessings,
And by the way, I’m so pleased that this post was featured on the Learning from Each Other Bloghop. It was the post with the most clicks, which tells me we can all use a little extra help with setting goals. We can do this!
Are you ready to spark success in your new year? Then this is for you!
What great tips! I can especially relate to the need to keep things simple and yet out of your comfort zone. I really love that last one because it’s so easy to just stay comfortable in life! 🙂
Thanks for linking up!
Hi Kiki! Yes, simple definitely works for me because I find that when I over-complicate my goals they never get done. Still I think we can find a balance and allow ourselves to be stretched beyond the ordinary. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I like this post because it’s so simple, yet so clear! Agh, I need to sit at your feet a while, I think, Miss Marva! I do have goals, but this makes sense.
And those graphics – WOW. I love your colors and you always do a fantastic job. 🙂
Oh Ruthie, you’re too sweet! I’ve been sitting at your feet with the parenting thing so we might be even. 🙂 I love how we keep learning from each other — not that we’ve arrived but simply willing to share!
Awesome post.. I love goal setting but I find it is important not to set too many!
So glad you liked it, Lauren! Having a reasonable number of goals is certainly good advice. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve got to bookmark this and read it again in February, Marva. Great wisdom here, friend. And I’m so goal challenged! I like #1 Keep it Simple!! I overcomplicate myself and end up making things to hard. Better to set a simple goal I can actually DO!
That’s right, Betsy! Let’s keep those goals on track. We can beat those statistics and keep going strong way into the year. We can do this!
Oh I just LOVE this Marva! My favourite tip… leave it to God. So many times, I’ve plowed ahead forgetting that God may have different goals for me.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Hi Jennifer, I always love joining your #SHINEbloghop. I’m glad you could stop by and leave a comment. By the way, I’m very familiar with plowing ahead with my own plans but thankfully God has a way of gently stopping me in my tracks.
I love this Marva! I also like Karen she is soo good! I enjoyed listening to Michael Hyatt as well. I am doing Grace Goals + MSM Goal Setting. Thanks for the encouragement!
I’m so glad you liked it, Johanna. I’m doing Grace Goals with you but I don’t think I’ve heard of MSM Goal Setting — you might have to clue me in!
These are great tips, Marva. It’s important for people to know that it’s never too late to set goals. There is so much good stuff in here! It was very encouraging to me as I thought about my own goals for this year. Let’s go!
That’s good news for me too, Dianne because I’ve been really behind this year. I’m ready to hit the ground running — once I figure out what to do next. 🙂 So glad you could stop by!
What a wonderful post, Marva! Such great tips you’ve shared here, Love! It’s been a blessing to visit with you this morning! GOD bless you, beautiful friend! 🙂
Thanks. It’s so good to ‘see’ you, Tai! I’m glad we got to visit with each other this morning. Hope we keep this up in the New Year. 🙂
Writing down my goals is VITAL for me. If I don’t, they’ll NEVER be reached. Ever. It sets a vague sense of accountability for me, even if I never share them with other people.
Don’t laugh Morgan, but once I wrote my goals and lost my list. I felt aimless for the rest of the year. Bet that won’t be happening again. So glad you could visit!
I LOVE this list! I have so much trouble organizing and working toward my goals. I usually set so many I can’t keep up or else I forget about them partway through the year. I love setting them, but it doesn’t usually help me out much… I definitely want to put some of these into practice! (especially, I think, keeping my goals visible)
But even more than that I love how God-focused this post is! I really, really needed that reminder that God is enough and everything else is just icing. I lose that perspective so easily amidst the busyness, and I also tend to forget that God wants to be a part of all of my goals, not just the spiritual ones.
Thank you so much for your wise words! : D
Meredith, you’ve warmed my heart with your words. Just know, that I can relate to so much of what you said. The reason I wrote this post is because I NEED this help too. Let’s pray for each other to put God first and make him the centre of our plans. He truly is ENOUGH.
Some great advice here. I always write a list of what I need to get done, it helps to motivate me and actually get things done!
I love your one word. I’m learning He is enough, even without any icing on the cake! : )
God bless. I’m visiting from the ‘Faith Filled Friday’ link-up.
Thanks so much for the visit, Cathy. You’re so right, who needs the icing on the cake, right? 🙂 Do you have a One Word for the year? Whatever your plans, I’m wishing you blessings!
I haven’t chosen a word for 2016. Still thinking about it. : ) Blessing to you too!
All in good time, Cathy. 🙂
I watched that webinar by Michael Hyatt too. It was so encouraging. I completely agree with your post. One of the areas I struggle with is keeping it simple. This year, I realized if I was going to accomplish the goals that are most important to me I had to simplify.
Kali, I agree with you — keeping things simple will go a long way in helping us achieve our goals. Thanks so much for stopping by!
What an encouraging post! And perfect timing because sadly -already, some of my goals were getting pushed to the side! Thanks for the tips! Off to actually write them down asap!
Welcome, Karrilee! I know the feeling only too well but this year I *plan* to put my own words into practise, including writing down those pesky goals. 🙂 Blessings to you!