[This is the third post in a series about setting goals that have an underlying eternal purpose.]
In the first post, I explained eternal goals – what they are and why they are important. In my last post, we began looking at the 7 reasons why most people neglect to set eternal goals. We used one of my personal goals for 2015 to illustrate these reasons.
Today, I want to jump right in and go through the rest of the 7 reasons. Let’s do it!
Reason #4 – I Can’t Know For Sure If I Have Hit Them
A critical part of an effective goal-setting process is having a very clear way to know when you have achieved the goals. When you first start talking about eternal goals and the results you want, it does seem like it would be impossible to know if you have achieved them or not.
That is another reason for us to base our eternal goals on activities that we believe will best LEAD to the eternal results. We must trust God for the actual eternal results, but we can certainly do what is within our control to give us the best odds at eternal impact.
Using my example of wanting to impact more people for eternity through my blog, the measurement I chose was email subscriber count. Like I said before, it is not perfect. However, it is measurable and I can know if I hit the goal. I have to rely on God to turn that count into eternal impact.
Reason #5 – These Goals Cause Abnormal Behavior!
This is a tough one. It is tough because it is true. Seeking to set and achieve eternal goals will absolutely drive you toward behaviors that are not common or normal in today’s culture.
At the same time, Jesus called us to be salt and light. We are going to stand out from the crowd if we follow His calling. The sooner we get comfortable with this idea, the greater the impact we will have!
Reason #6 – Eternal Goals Conflict With My Current Goals
Much like Reason #5, this is also potentially true. Many people set goals to save a certain amount of money by the end of the year. Or maybe their goal is to buy a new house. These goals are not bad in and of themselves.
Unfortunately, there CAN be conflict when we begin to think about giving and other similar ways to achieve eternal impact. For me, I have a goal for our family to give a certain percentage of our income to faith-based efforts. The money we want to give could make other large ticket purchases difficult or impossible.
Conflict like this is best resolved by seeking godly advice and counsel from accountability partners and trusted advisers as well as prayer and study of the Bible. This conflict is greatly reduced when your goal-setting process begins with prayer and includes an eternal perspective from the start.
Reason #7 – I Cannot Fully Control The Results
For those of us who are “Type-A” personalities, this can be one of the toughest reasons to overcome. We want our goals to be based on our own performance. We do not want to rely on someone else to help us hit our goals.
Maybe that mindset works in individual sports, but it absolutely will not work when it comes to spiritual matters – even goal setting. We are designed by God to need Him. We are incomplete and cannot achieve anything meaningful or of lasting value without Him. We must accept this and set our goals accordingly.
While I cannot control the eternal impact He creates with my writing, I CAN control the activities that LEAD to that impact. I set my goals based on controllable activities and leave the rest to Him. I am usually surprised at the results!
Summary
Like I said earlier, most people have never set eternal goals. After going through the most common reasons for this and explaining how to set these goals, I hope you are more comfortable with attempting it going forward.
I have also given you this advice before: start small and feel free to contact me with questions! Try this with one goal and see how it goes. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results!
Have you started with an eternal goal yet?
What is holding you back from jumping in?
Who are you getting to hold you accountable?
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read My Comments Policy.