THE ROADMAP TO ACHIEVEMENT: WHY GOAL SETTING MATTERS!

For more than a decade now, I've been dedicated to setting yearly goals, firmly believing in their transformative power. In fact, I'm so enthusiastic about goal setting that if someone were to ask me, "What do you do?" I might respond, "I help individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to set practical goals and achieve them", and that's exactly what I am hoping to accomplish through this article. However, I've encountered many individuals with contrasting views. Their reasons for not engaging in goal setting vary from "I don't think it makes a significant difference" to "Even if I set goals, I doubt I'll achieve them, so why bother writing them down?" Despite understanding these perspectives, I remain convinced that goal setting is a potent tool that can benefit anyone.

"I help individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to set practical goals and achieve them"

WHY IS GOAL SETTING IMPORTANT?

Among numerous rationales, I've pinpointed three compelling reasons why goal setting is essential and should be embraced universally:

• You are limited. I presume there have been occasions when you've longed to be 'omnipresent'—capable of being in multiple locations and engaging in various tasks simultaneously. However, this ability is exclusive to God alone. Even as I'm typing these words, there are countless other tasks I wish I could tackle simultaneously, yet I'm unable to do so. While you may have the capability to pursue any endeavor or acquire knowledge about anything you desire, it's important to recognize that you cannot feasibly accomplish everything or know everyone and everything you wish to. This reality underscores the importance of setting goals. No wonder Jesus, in an attempt to emphasize how limited we are, told his disciples:

                                 …Apart from me, you can do nothing (John 15:5 NLT)

• Time is limited. Time is a finite resource, with only 168 hours available each week. A significant portion is consumed by sleep, leaving limited hours for productivity. Let’s do the Math: If you allocate 8 hours a day to sleep, it equates to a full day of sleep every three days, totaling four months over the course of a year. Alternatively, if you increase your sleep duration to 12 hours per day, you would essentially spend one day sleeping for every two days, amounting to six months annually. Interesting right? However, the emphasis isn't solely on the duration of your sleep each day, but rather on what you can achieve during your waking and active hours. The choices made during those waking hours is what will determine your life's accomplishments. This is why one individual may sleep for a longer duration yet achieve significantly more compared to another person. However, despite the universal desire for more time, it's an unattainable goal. Therefore, taking the initiative to set goals is a wise strategy for prioritizing and investing time in activities that align with your priorities and values. Check out what Moses had to say to emphasize the limitedness of time:

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12 NIV)

It's important to recognize that you cannot feasibly accomplish everything or know everyone and everything you wish to

• You can easily get distracted. I've lost count of the instances when I've been tempted to break my fast upon encountering one of my favorite foods. Conversely, there have been numerous occasions where I've unintentionally spent more time than intended watching enticing videos on social media simply because they caught my attention. The key takeaway is that distractions abound, whether they come in forms we enjoy or dislike, and regardless of whether we intentionally invite them or not. During my college years, I often found myself unable to refuse requests from friends or acquaintances, even when I truly desired to do so. Initially, I attributed this difficulty to a fear of letting people down. However, I later realized that this was only part of the truth. The deeper reason for my struggle with saying 'no' stemmed from a lack of clear goals. Nowadays, I find it much easier, quicker, and more confident to say 'no' without the guilt that plagued me in the past. The reason? Clear goals. They act as a powerful filter for every request and decision I encounter, enabling me to navigate with clarity and purpose. This underscores the undeniable importance of goal setting. In order to encourage his readers to stay focused and avoid distractions, the writer of Hebrews had this to say:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV)

In the end, goal setting is crucial to ensure that you're consistently engaged in meaningful pursuits at every point in time. I hope this discussion encourages you to at least contemplate embracing the concept of goal setting. God richly bless you!

P.S: Do you need coaching on goal setting? Sign up for a free one-on-one coaching session here: https://www.sayinspireshub.com/events