Three days ago i finally succeeded in completing a task which usually takes much of my mental energy. Someone might be guessing what task could that be?.... hmmn, it is no other task at this time of the year for me other than setting goals for the next 365 days there about. Maybe i also have some witness in the house who are in a similar shoe as i am. I came across a quote by Charles Sheldon which says "Good resolutions are like babies crying in church, they should be carried out immediately". This quote got me laughing however its a statement of truth.
In the course of my facilitation with entrepreneurs i realise quite a number of people don't actually set goals for their businesses and even their own personal lives and the common excuse i get is that things are not predictable in this part of the world and so its worthless setting goals. At other times people tell me they have engaged in goal setting before ....that the thing doesn't work jare.
Goal setting i believe can be likened to good decisions and John Maxwell would say
"Good decisions minus daily discipline = a plan without payoff
Daily discipline minus good decision = regimentation without reward
Good decisions plus daily discipline = Masterpiece of Potential"
My starting this blog was a good decision but it takes a lot of discipline to keep it going. Let's get very practical now, for those of us who believe in goal setting and atleast have drafted something on paper and fixed a deadline to each goal. For example if your goal in the area of finances is to earn xxx amount of money next year you would now pick a pen and paper and draft all the new skills you would need to acquire to position you for the kind of job that would earn you that kind of money and the strategy for the acquisiton for those skills.
For the Mr Bachelor/Miss Spinster that wants to get married... what are those qualities and character you need to work on and also develop that would attract your dream partner to you . For the young man whose personal development goal is to finish a book weekly in the area of your discipline what time wasting activities would yo need to cut off from to enable you achieve this goal.
We can apply this exercise to every area of our life that we are setting goals for....spiritual,relationships, family etc.
This seems more practical to me and i believe we can further draft the required discipline for every goal we have set for the coming year so that indeed with the help of God our lives can become a Masterpiece. Even God in the book of Genesis after incubating the Vision of Creation broke down his vision into small goals, got down to business with a lot of hardwork and discipline before he finally (went on vacation.....lol) rested on the 7th day. That was a Masterpiece isn't it?
You are created in His image and likeness and can make a Masterpiece out of your own life too.
I believe one of the areas of our lives where we would need to make changes as we prepare to step into the new year is to embrace the principle of Goal setting. Please feel free to share your comments and the impact goal setting as a principle has had on you with us. In the next post i would continue on tips for goal setting.
True ! Kike… life without setting goals can be likened to sailing at sea without a direction. Any shore line would look like the final destination (at least initially). I learned the concept of goal setting out of necessity while in school. Because I had to combine my academics with other activities I quickly realized that not setting specific goals translated into a high level of mediocrity in some areas. Although I am ‘not- yet- there’ in the area of goal setting, the little I have been able to apply has definitely paid off!
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