Goal Setting and Time Management

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.”
—James Cash (JC) Penney

GOING FROM WHERE YOU ARE TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

Revisit your dream. What have you changed or abandoned? What songs, books, paintings, businesses, purposes, inventions, and intentions have you left behind so long ago that you almost don’t dare to think about them again?
You need to begin believing once again that:

  1. Your dreams are authentic and important. They are put in your heart by God.

  2. You’re not powerless, worthless, or hopeless. You have great value and significance.

  3. What’s inside of you is more powerful than any circumstance.

  4. More importantly, who’s inside you is more powerful than any problem in front of you.

  5. Turbulence, chaos, ambiguity, and change are not there to stop you. They are there to strengthen, shape, mold, and ultimately help you.

   As our Lord hung on the cross, shedding His blood so that we can be saved and experience joy and successful purpose in Him for all eternity, He said, “Tetelestai!” which means, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
   As a person with “Christ in you,” you are “teleological.” This means that you’re supposed to be a finisher too! Teleological acts are those that lock on their target like the heatseeking sensors on a missile: they don’t stop no matter what resistance comes to deceive them or knock them off course. They hit their target anyway. If you aim a gun at a target and pull the trigger, once the bullet leaves the gun, you have no control as to where it will land. With a heat-seeking missile, once you’ve locked on the target, no matter how much turbulence occurs or how evasive the target gets, it will course correct as often as is necessary to reach its goal.
   Absent a destination, any road will take you there. Goals give you a destination, and whether you think you have them or not, you do. If in your mind, you consider yourself to be a C student; a lower-level employee; a nonathlete; a fat, depressed, old person; and so on, then believe it or not, because you’re teleological, you’ll achieve those very goals. You’re aimed at failure, and what’s worse, you’re hitting the target right on the bull’s-eye!
   On the other hand, if you have rich and powerful goals, you’re teleologically aimed at winning. You’re a guided missile! What’s great is that you’re locked on to hit those targets now or later. If the goals are clear, tangible, visible, vivid, well-planned goals, you are literally spiritually designed to hit them.

7 STEPS TO GOAL SETTING Determine your priorities which are the spokes on your “wheel of life.”

  • Spiritual

  • Family

  • Fitness

  • Physical health

  • Personal development

  • Financial

  • Your purpose

  • Fun/trips/possessions

   Create a one-year, five-year, and ten-year vision for each of these priorities.
   Develop big, audacious visions with near-term, attainable, deadline-driven goals. A vision with a deadline is a goal. Each goal you achieve should move you closer and closer to the vision.
   List what you’ll create goals for. You must be specific with each of the spokes on your wheel of life or you’ll have a lopsided wheel. You can’t just have a family goal. There has to be a goal for you and your spouse, you and individual children, and you and individual extended family members.
   Create a vivid, clear picture. Were the details specific enough? For example, if you wanted a house, do you have the details down that explain the landscaping, the bricks paving the driveway, the flooring, the window coverings, the furniture, the colors, where the kids will play, and where you’ll make memories?
   Develop a plan. It’s not “think it and ink it.” Faith is a fact, and faith is an act. What prayerfully prepared plan do you have to reach the goals in the timeframe you’ve set? This includes:

  • Who will help you?

  • Where/how you’ll get the resources?

  • What type and order of steps need to be taken?

   The plan is then brought down to the ground level by going into your to-do lists and ending up in your weekly war plan as is explained in the next section.

IMPORTANT: Build trust in yourself but apply forgiveness. In order to begin trusting yourself, you have to consistently hit your goals. If you miss some, however, forgive yourself. Tell yourself, “That’s not like me. I hit goals,” and move on.

Remember with God, all things are possible

Dr. Ben

Ben Lerner