So we reviewed our last discussion on having a vision for our lives (see previous post), and Dayton took us right into this weeks discussion with the question, "What do we do next?" Going back to our example of Abram, when God told him to look up, and that everything he could see would be the greatness of his family, he responded by walking the land and established himself by dwelling there. Once we look up and see what God has in store for us, how do we step towards it? Well, the obvious answer is to take some sort of action (especially considering James 2:26), but what? To figure that out, Dayton detailed for us the idea of having a written plan of action -- stated goals for your life.
As we noted is last week's story about the Harvard graduates, and in Habakkuk 2:2, there is power in having stated goals. They don't magically make things happen (this isn't Harry Potter), but they do affect our ability to focus on what's important and what we can do to move us in the direction of our vision. Dayton showed us a way to break down our life goals on a "vision sheet", which divides goals into four categories:
Habit -- goals for the next 21 days
Short-term goal -- 3-4 months
Mid-Term goals -- 1 year
Long-Term goals -- 10 years from now
Dayton reminded us that our long-term goals need to be BIG; we're should be a little embarrassed by how amazing they are. The shorter goals should line up with the long-term goals -- they can provide stepping stones to prepare us for the big things in our futures. The goals should be stated clearly; vague descriptions leave loopholes for your dreams to fall through. (Isn't this why legal contracts are filled with such jargon?) With this "vision sheet," we start over every 21 days, and redetermine our goals. This allows for changes to be made as priorities shift, and as we see more clearly God's plans for our lives. This also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the small victories while keeping the big ones in sight. Another idea Dayton brought up was the "20 Solutions" approach to our goals. We look at a particular goal and come up with 20 different ways to accomplish it. The first several ways may be easy to think up, but finding all 20 will usually require some critical thinking and analysis of the goals we have for ourselves.
The good thing is that it's not completely up to us to get all this taken care of ourselves. To fulfill God's plan, we should probably ask Him about it, right? That's what Proverbs 16:9 says; "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." God will help us make those mid-course corrections with our goals so we end up safely where he wants us to be. We can also talk with trustworthy people in our lives who can encourage us and help keep us on track, especially as we physically work out our smaller goals to reach our big dreams. We are much more likely to accomplish things when we don't feel that we are alone in the struggle.
Recap:
See above -- goal categories!
Having goals really is important to our lives, especially right now when so many people our age falter in reaching their dreams. And writing them down reminds us that we're not just floating aimlessly, we're headed in a good direction. To quote the quote (hehe) at the bottom of Dayton's vision sheet, "This is my vision, this is my plan. I will succeed."
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Even though I gave Dayton a hard time about having discussed this topic before, it really is something that we need to think about and he did do a good job Tues. night. I think we sometimes avoid planning too far in the future because it's a little overwhelming to try and comprehend. Where I'm going to be in one year? I'm focusing on getting through this semester! (as I'm sure you can all relate) But by writing down goals that we have, it's planting those things into our minds so that we can begin to make a conscious effort to achieve them. I think about the saying (or is it a joke?): how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We don't have to map out our entire lives right now because as was brought up, we need that wiggle room to allow for priorities to shift and different dreams to take precedence. I think about Brooke and how she's on her way to becoming a famous photographer and that is so awesome!! She's taking those steps to making that dream become reality and we're all able to sit back and watch it happen. We need to dream big, as Dayton said, and not let present circumstances threaten to hold us back from what we want to accomplish. One verse that comes to mind is Proverbs 3:5 and I think it can apply to this discussion: Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track (the Message). We don’t have to have all of the answers right now. We just need to trust God to direct us as we set goals and then help us we take those tiny steps to achieving them.
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