Set Annual Goals
For the past twenty years I have written down my personal goals. There are normally four. I craft them in December but start thinking about them earlier. They are in force at 12:01 a.m. on the first of January and the previous year’s goals become null and void.
Many find this exercise silly or the ritual outdated. Others admit they have never tried it. If you are in either camp, I hope this short post will change your mind. Annual goal-setting can bring (and sustain) positive change to your life.
Part of the challenge in setting goals is not having a framework. Here is mine. It is based on a verse in Scripture (Luke 2:52). The framework is simple and focuses on four areas of our lives:
Intellectual - read ten books, learn sign language, learn to grow your own food
Physical - lose ten pounds, walk four days a week, eat less sugar
Spiritual - read the Bible through in a year, meditate for twenty minutes a day, don’t ruminate on failure
Relational - be a better spouse, make two new friends, be a better listener
The goal of goal-setting is to be a little better. Failing to fully achieve any goal does not mean the process is flawed or that you completely failed. Is it a failure if you read nine books instead of ten? Are you unhappy that you lost eight pounds instead of twelve? Of course not, you accomplished something. You are a little better than before. Repeating that level of success over three or four years accumulates. You begin to see real change.
My advice. Keep your goals simple and few and take advantage of the new year. We all know that it is “just a date,” but there is power in leveraging the start of a new year. Don’t waste it.
Write your goals down. If you do, three things will happen. First, you will have to think about them. You can’t write something down, particularly something meaningful, if you haven’t thought about it (and thinking is the beginning of change). Second, if you think about something and write it down, it now has power. You may think you have power to dismiss it, but you will find that you have become beholden to it. Lastly, you will likely tell someone about your goals. Once you do, whether you intended it or not, you have created accountability. These three consequences are now working for you and you are on your way to being a little better. All the best!
P.S. - Look at them often.
