The majority losers

In addition to a time of meditation and thankfulness for the Lord and for all that He has done for me and my family, fellowship with family, eating turkey with all of the trimmings, non-stop football, and the start of sail fishing season, the Thanksgiving holidays signify the start of something special in my life each and every year. It is the time I begin working on my goals for next year. I begin working on them beginning with time off during this holiday and will have them finalized in writing by January 1.

Yes I take goal setting and achievement of the same seriously. My primary goal is that every year should be better in every way. I divide my life into many different categories such as spiritual, family, personal, financial, business, hobbies, friends, health, etc. I cover virtually every area of my life and try to improve in every area and accomplish certain objectives which are thoughtfully set after prayer and meditation. I also maintain a list of 100 things that I want to do, (achieve), before I die. This year I will completely revamp this list, because through the years I have achieved many of the items on my previous list and a few things on my old list are just not as important to me anymore.

Facts abound concerning this subject, but suffice it to say that setting written goals is mandatory for those who wish to succeed. Studies indicate that 95% of our population do not have or utilize written goals. What a shame, that means that the overwhelming majority of “you” will not be using written goals next year. A study on this subject conducted at Harvard showed that of the 5% of students who utilized written goals at Harvard, 3% of them accomplished more than the other 97% “combined”! Other studies confirm that the majority of the wealthiest individuals in the world, (top 1%) utilize written goals. Psychologists estimate that written goals are three times effective as those carried around in our crowded heads. I wonder what could be done for the Lord if more people utilized written goals as a means of reaching others for the Lord

It is my hope that you will take some time to write down your goals this year. Do not dwell upon the failures of the past; we all have them. The future is a brand new slate and will be what we make of it. The Bible emphatically tells us to look forward and not back. Do not look at past attempts at achieving success as failures, rather as “lessons learned”. Take your lessons learned and apply them to achieving your utmost.

My Atlanta pastor had some suggestions concerning goal setting. He insists we should 1. Pray for direction 2. Prepare for action 3. Expect opposition. I could not agree more, only I would add a fourth; that being give it all you have on every play. We are told in the Bible to run every race as though we might win it. Prayerfully choose your races. Prepare for action with a written game plan for success. Expect and overcome opposition. (You cannot have a race without opposition, so don’t whine about it; welcome it.) Work your plan harder and FIGHT to win, which simply means we should go ALL OUT on every play of the game.

Phil 3:13
…But one thing I do,
forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead.
I press toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.