Goal Setting 101: Begin with the end in mind

I am currently supervising student nurses in a long term care facility.  Today was our clinical day on a large unit of beautiful elderly people. It's an environment that I am unexpectedly finding to be conducive to the personal goal-setting process that I'm in the midst of.

I talked with one elderly gentleman in particular today who sits by the nurses station, talks with anyone who goes by and is really very pleasant and friendly. While his strength is failing, his mind is completely intact. Today after we had talked a bit I asked him if he had ever been married. He said he had and then became emotional when he went on to tell me that his wife had died after 50 years of marriage.  I said,
"That must have left a big hole in your life."
 He agreed and went on to say, "Now I just sit and wait."
"For what?", I asked.
"For the next thing. For whatever happens next."

Watching these precious elderly folks, and listening to them, makes me reflect quite a bit on what I want the end of my life to look like.  Of course none of us really know what's ahead and many people end up in places and situations that might have occurred only in their worst nightmares but I do think there is some wisdom in at least attempting to look ahead and envision what perhaps could be in those final years.  I think that if we don't, we may end up just waiting for the next thing to define the moment, the day, the week, the year for us.  As Stephen Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind."  In other words, what do I want the end of my life to look like and then back up from there to know what I need to be doing  now to get there.

Even in old age [the godly] will still produce fruit.  They will remain vital and green. Psalm 92:14

Goals

I've been thinking lately that it's time to establish more goals for my life.  I could perhaps have another 40-50 years  to live life (by the year 2050, it's projected that there will be at least a million people over the age of 100).  Right now, I have about 10 very specific goals (or, dreams)  that I have identified that have not yet been fulfilled.  So if you do the math, that means I'm accomplishing 1 goal every 4 or 5 years.  Hmmm... I think I can do better than that.  In fact, I think I need to do better than that.  Having a sense of purpose and a vision for our lives is part of what leads to a fulfilling, alive, and God-honoring life.  So, I've been prayerfully thinking about all of this, writing down thoughts and refining some of the goals I have had to be very specific and measurable.  I'm also working on identifying goals that I haven't ever really clearly articulated before.

 With God, all things are possible (Jesus)

On top of that, I'm challenged to identify goals/ dreams that go beyond what I am capable of accomplishing in my own strength and know-how.  Many of the goals I am working on are  big enough that if they happen it will only be because of God.

Bill Gates has said, "People overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can accomplish in 10 years."  It seems that most of us have busy schedules and its easy to get caught in the trap of not taking the time to think beyond what happens this day.  Writing  goals down and keeping them visible can serve as a daily reminder to us of what is important.  So, when 10 years goes we can look back and celebrate the accomplishments of that decade.

Currently, these are the goal categories:

• Family
• Influence
• Service
• Gifts, talents and skills

I'm also aware that what we do comes out of who we are.  So I'm doing the background work of asking myself what kind of person I want and need to be in order to achieve the things that I want to do in life.

And, finally and most importantly, anything worthwhile ultimately comes out of that place of knowing and walking with God.  Jesus said, 'Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15)

"Action Trumps Everything"

There's one conference a year that I try to take in and that's the Global Leadership Summit hosted by Willowcreek Community Church. I really appreciate the posture of The Summit:  we can learn from those who are doing things well from many different spheres. I love that the speakers are a real mixture and variety of people and backgrounds. So, last week, I got to take in the Summit again.

One of my favorite sessions was by Len Schlesinger, the President of the leading school for entrepreneurship, Babson College. I've always been fascinated and intrigued by what it means to be an entrepreneur, and what makes one an entrepreneur.  I think we tend to believe that entrepreneurs are only a small, select kind of people. The kind we could never be.  But what if that weren't true? I've thought that if there's a way more of us could figure out what it means to be an entrepreneur and actually take steps in that direction, that there's a whole lot of Kingdom potential that could be released.  What I loved about this session was that Len Schlesinger dismantled many of our widely accepted perceptions about entrepreneurs.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Many entrepreneurs don't start with a big, clear vision.  They just do something, learn from it, and keep on doing it.
• Entrepreneurs are not actually all that excited about risk; in fact, the good ones know how to avoid it.
• Research has shown that entrepreneurs aren't more decisive and self-confident than others.
• We think a true entrepreneur is someone like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg but in reality an entrepreneur is more likely to be someone who sees something being done and they just do it better.
• Being an entrepreneur is a discipline, and like any other discipline it can be learned.
• If you can't predict the future, create it.
• In the face of unknowability, you can sit and think, or you can act.
• How do you start something?  Start with something you care about.
• Many great enterprises have been started by 2 people who like each other deciding to just do something together.
• Failure doesn't mean "game over", it means learn from it and try again.
• When you fail, its quite likely you've just learned something that no one else knows that will help you do it better the next time.
• Stop obsessing about what you think you need and don't have, just act with what you have.

Movement

We just got back from a week at the beach.  One of the things I love most about the beach is that there's so much movement... waves rolling onto the shore, the clouds overhead drifting by, the sand shifting in the wind, seagulls diving into the water for food... if you've been to the beach you know what I'm talking about.

I believe human beings are drawn to things that move.  Movement speaks to something deep in my soul that I think we all long for.  Movement reminds me that we're on a journey, that our lives are not meant to be stagnant and inanimate.  Movement is meant to be part of life.

When God was leading the Isrealites out of captivity, he led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  When the pillar moved, they moved.  When God called Abraham, he told him to move out of the place he was and move towards somewhere that God would show him.  Jesus himself moved from place to place.  These examples all speak of physical movement, but the physical is often an incarnation of spiritual realities.  God is always on the move bringing about the restoration of his creation.  One of the biggest moves of all times was the move that Jesus made from being with the Father in heaven to being a human on the earth.  Ultimately this move was about the restoration of a broken, sinful humanity to God.  Movement is the catalyst for change, and growth and new beginnings; God's purposes coming alive in and through us.

Without movement, there would literally be stagnation and death.  This is true in the physical sense and this is true in the spiritual sense.  Movement is necessary to life at every level.

God is on the move today. Knowing this fills me with hope because God doesn't move alone.  He invites me, he invites you, to move with him as He fulfills his purposes on the Earth.