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What are the dreams you’ve been carrying around with you for a long time? What are the ideas and wishes that are still nuggets in the back of your mind? Would you like to see some of them become a reality, to the glory of God?
You know, there are many good dreamers in the world who never get to the doing part. Jesus said that the blessing comes when we do what we know we should do. So, if we only dream and wish and hope, and we never take any steps to turn those dreams into goals and make them happen, then obviously, we miss out on the blessing. And when you miss the blessing, you miss the joy and excitement and fulfillment that God has for you.
I think there are many people who feel that life is just one day after another, the same ole same ole, and they don’t really enjoy living very much because they’ve never stepped out and by faith, reached for some of their dreams and worked to reach a goal. I can see how life would be pretty dull if there was never anything to reach for.
Why do people wish and dream but often never make it happen? Well, perhaps because they’re reactive instead of proactive people. We talked about that in part one. A reactive person is one who allows others and circumstances to dictate what happens to them. They make victims of themselves and then claim it’s not their fault!
A proactive person is one who looks down the road, sets a goal, and instead of looking for excuses not to pursue that goal, that person refuses to be sidetracked and he or she heads for the goal they’ve set. Proactive people don’t wait for life to dish out their destiny. They determine where they want to go—where God wants them to go—and do the things that are necessary to get there.
Now, let me hasten to add that as believers, our goals should be ordained by God. We should be going for the things that bring honor to Jesus. Our goals should bring glory to God, not to ourselves, and should not be selfish goals. We need eternally significant goals—to set our hearts on doing the things that will make a difference.
Those goals can range from the simple everyday things of our lives to life-changing pursuits. For example, you may need to set a goal to become a better communicator—listening better, choosing words more carefully, being truly attentive to others, etc. You don’t need to pray about whether to do that or not; it’s a great goal and it will glorify Jesus. But let me tell you, becoming a better communicator will not happen unless you determine to set a goal and pursue it.
So, whether your goal is to change a bad habit or improve your skills in some way, or a goal to start your own business, or go to the mission field or whatever, you need a plan and a method that will help you turn that dream, that wish, into a specific goal with practical steps to take that will get you there. And today I want to offer some suggestions.
Begin with a personal mission statement—a center that governs everything you do throughout your life.
You might want to begin this process of turning dreams and wishes into goals by writing this personal mission statement. It would be a good overall plan to act as a governing center in your life to guide your decisions, your motivations, your whole life. Not long after my ministry began, the Board of Directors developed this mission statement for The Christian Working Woman:
The Christian Working Woman exists to equip and encourage Christians in the workplace, primarily women, to know and love Christ more, and to live as Christ would, by applying biblical principles and utilizing their gifts and abilities to build His Kingdom.
From that came our vision as to how we would fulfill our mission and specific goals for the near and distant future. When we are confronted with new opportunities, we check it out with the mission statement and ask ourselves: Does this further our mission? This keeps us rooted and grounded to stay on track and not be tempted to try to do too much, or to be all things to all people, or forget who we are and why we’re here.
Many organizations have developed these mission statements and found it has made a huge difference in keeping them on course and avoiding bad decisions. Why not use that idea for each of our lives as individuals?
It is not something you write overnight. It takes introspection, careful analysis, thoughtful expression, and often many rewrites to produce it in final form, and indeed it may be revised at points. But this mission statement should set the basic values for your life that you are committed to and on which you are not willing to compromise.
The biggest benefit of taking time to write a personal mission statement is that it will force you to do some careful thinking and praying about where you are and where you’re headed. Often we just go through our days, one after another, without ever giving thought to the big picture. With a personal mission statement, you can remind yourself, when you face decisions, to make sure that you are spending your time, resources and energy on the things that will contribute to the fulfillment of your mission.
Obviously, as Christians, this mission statement has to be in line with God’s Word and his explicit will as we learn it through the Bible. Our priorities are dictated to us by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, and we must first seek his will to write the mission statement that he has for us.
Here are some Scripture verses that should govern that mission statement:
Matthew 6:33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 16:3: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Establish practical ways to turn your wishes into goals.
I’ve often suggested things for you to do that will help you turn wishes to be more like Jesus into goals—and that’s a goal every Christ-follower should have. For instance, I’ve encouraged you to put on the inner garments of Colossians 3 on a daily basis; to set specific guidelines for your thought life and practice bringing your thoughts into captivity; to establish a time each day that you spend getting to know God, and many more. Those are just ideas to help you turn from a wisher into a doer.
I want to encourage you to get serious about turning some of your dreams and wishes into goals, and to begin by putting it in writing. That’s a good first step, and in fact, I have developed a form make this first step.
You begin by identifying one thing you want to achieve, one thing you want to improve in your life, on your job, in your relationships, whatever. Write it down. Now, ask yourself, “Did I write a wish or a goal?” A goal would be: “In order to be more organized, I am going to start using a To-Do list on a daily basis beginning today.” Whereas a wish would be “I’m going to get more organized.” Until it becomes specific with a time schedule, it is still in the wish/dream category.
Once you’ve written it down and gotten it into the form of a goal, ask yourself, “How badly do I want this?” If you’re not truly committed to achieving that goal, it simply won’t happen. Jesus said we find God when we search for him with our whole heart. Lots of people would like to know God better, but not everyone is willing to put out the time and effort required to search for him with the whole heart. So, as you look at your goal, you have to be certain you are truly committed to it.
Then, in order to achieve that goal, make sure you bite off small pieces at a time. For example, if you’ve never established a daily time with God, don’t try to start with an hour a day. Start with fifteen or twenty minutes. Get that firmly established. Then increase it in small increments a week at a time. Sometimes we discourage ourselves because we see the job before us as so large that it looks like we’ll never make it. But if you take the large goal and turn it into a series of small ones that don’t look impossible, pretty soon you’ll find you’ve achieved your goal.
And lastly, I would encourage you to establish accountability for yourself in these goals that you set. Ask someone to check up on you. That accountability is very important.
So, let’s repeat those steps that will help us turn wishes and dreams into goals:
- Take a piece of paper or sit down at your computer and write a specific goal you want to reach. It must be specific, with a time frame.
- Break that goal up into smaller pieces, each with a time frame. For example, if you want to clean up your files, break that big job into smaller pieces, like one file drawer at a time. Or you can break it into smaller time pieces: one hour a day.
- Establish some accountability. Tell somebody what you’re working at and perhaps ask someone to check up on you, or maybe it’s a goal you share with someone, and you can work on it together. That’s always motivating, to have someone in it with you.
Then, as the commercial tells us, just do it!
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “So we make it our goal to please him (the Lord), whether we are at home in the body or away from it” (2 Corinthians 5:9). And to the Philippians he wrote: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Turning Wishes into Goals…and Turning Goals into Action Handout