3 of 7 Principles of Goal-Setting

Create a plan for your Dream.  What does your plan need to include?  Goals.  Goals are different from your Plan.  A Plan is the broad brushstrokes on the canvass of your life, how you will accomplish your goals.  Goals are the smaller strokes, the details that incrementally bring the Dream into focus and, finally, completion.  Determine when you want to achieve your Dream (six months, a year, three years, five years, etc.). You put a Plan in place with how you will accomplish your Dream.  Now it’s time to be specific and detailed, to work your way backward on a calendar from when you want your Dream to be achieved with definite goals.  You create a timeline on a calendar, prioritizing what you must accomplish first, second, third, and so on to complete the painting of your Dream.  Here are seven principles to keep in mind.

1.  Fixing the Exact Amount:             

            Fix your mind on the exact amount in these areas:

·      Resources – List the resources you need to accomplish your Dream.  These may be material resources, such as computers, office space, etc., or these may be human resources, such as mentors, experts, workers, designers, etc.  When will you accomplish having all of these resources in place and in what order?

·      Skills – List the skills you will need to accomplish your Dream.  Is there training involved?  Will you need to take a course?  Do you need an internship?  Do you need a mentor?  When will you have each of these skills in your repertoire?

·      Funding – Figure out how much money you need to fund your Dream and how you will accumulate the funding to work toward your Dream.  How much will it cost to obtain the resources and skills necessary to accomplish your Dream.  Figure out how much money you want to live on.  Will you live below your means and save to fund your Dream?  Figure out how you will fund your Dream and the lifestyle you desire.

2.  Give and It Will Be Given to You:

Over two thousand years ago a young man approached a great rabbi filled with wisdom.  He asked, “Rabbi what must I do to truly live?”  The rabbi responded, “Go and sell all that you have and come follow me.”  The young man went away sad because he possessed great material wealth.  He was not willing to give it all for his Dream.[i]

Determine exactly what you are willing to give to accomplish your Dream.  Write down what you are willing to do. . .and double it! You may never be required to do all of it, but you must be willing.  A Dream will always cost us more in time, effort, resources, and struggle than we anticipate.  But remember, “When your heart is in your Dream, no request is too extreme.”  Your Dream may ask you to give over some extremely difficult things at times.  You decide if you are willing to give them.  It helps in those moments to measure the short-term sacrifices for the long-term dividends.

Just a word regarding difficult choices and sacrifices.  There seems to be a lot of talk about balance in life.  Many life-coaches will talk to their clients about having a balanced life, but I would like to suggest that instead of thinking about balance in life, think about seasons of life.  King Solomon said that to everything there is a season.

Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring are very different seasons, and every one of them is necessary to a healthy and whole planet.  When you pursue your Dream, you may have to spend more time on the road away from family, or longer days at work, or doing a lot of foundational work that seems mundane to establish the right conditions for your Dream to manifest.  These difficult or mundane periods of time are just a season.  While every season is necessary, another important thing to remember is that seasons end as well (unless you live in Hawaii, then obviously you are already living the Dream).

Seasons in life are the short-term sacrifices we give for the long-term benefits.  Everything in life commands an exchange.  The one most of us know is trading time for money (which actually doesn’t have to be an exchange at all.  We’ll talk about that later in a different blog post).  As you pursue your Dream, you’ll have to make some exchanges, some short-term sacrifices for long-term rewards.  If you find yourself in a season for five years, then please, seek help!

3.  Setting the Date:

I don’t believe in deadlines.  Instead, set lifelines!  Remember you are planning and striving to truly live!

Establish exactly when you will achieve the amount of resources, skills, and wealth for your Dream.  Write them down, maybe on a calendar, then work backward on the calendar, creating benchmarks of measurement.  If your goal is to save $1000 four months from now, write down that goal on the calendar four months out.  Then go back one month from that lifeline and write $750.  Then go back two months and write $500.  Then go back another month and write $250.  Keep the $1000 goal in the back of your mind, and laser-focus on the $250 now for this month.  When you achieve your $250 goal.  Set your laser-focus on the $500 goal.

If you achieve your $250 goal early, don’t coast until the month is over and begin the $500 goal.  Begin immediately.  If you want to challenge yourself, move the time-table up for your goals.

If it takes you five weeks instead of four to accumulate the first $250, then adjust your other lifelines to five-week increments.  Make the plan and adjust accordingly.  But definitely set lifelines and use your superhero laser focus (yes, you are a superhero, don’t forget it!).

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[i] Mark 10:17-31