You Can be Great If You Really Want To

One habit separates the top 5% of competitors who win in life from the other 95% who just play: Goal setting. No surprises there. That is common knowledge.

But what about the 5% of us who DO set goals? The 5% of us who DO understand the importance of setting ‘proper’ SMART goals, goals that are properly written down, with a deadline, all neatly in accordance with the SMARTER principles of goal setting? The goals we have that are Specific, we can Measure them, we truly believe they are Realistic and we have given ourselves a realistic Time Frame for their achievement. Yet still, no matter what our level of passion, desire or commitment, these goals continue to allude us. They remain just that. Goals. Goals written down in our diaries, pinned up on our vision boards but very definitely goals not yet present in our lives. What about those goals? Have you had any of those??  Are you at a loss as to WHY these goals do not seem to be working for you at the moment, or, more specifically, what else it is that you need to do in order to achieve those goals? If so,  then I am going to highly recommend that you read a most amazing book that I recently discovered:  ‘With Winning In Mind – An Olympic Champion’s Success System’, written by Lanny Bassham, 3 X World Champion & Olympic Gold Medallist. (No commission in it for me, sorry). In my eyes, any book that starts: “Most people do not read introductions because most introductions are too darn long. So I made this one short…” has to be worth an afternoon of your time. In it, Lanny explains his approach to goal setting,  and outlines his 10 point ‘Mental Management Goal-Setting System’.

When you read it, you may have an ‘aha’ moment, similar to the one that I did. Let me outline that system briefly for you here, and maybe you will begin to  understand the missing steps to your success …. the reasons why some of your goals may not have been quite as SMART as you thought they were.

Step Number 1:  Decide Exactly What You Want – Find goals that excite and ignite you. This ties in very nicely with our Specific SMART goals.

Step Number 2:  Decide When You Want It – yep, Time Frame, we already understand that one too.

“A goal without a deadline is merely a wish”

Step Number 3:  List The Pay Value. This is interesting. The goal has to be exciting to you and it has to be personal to you. What is the personal value to you?  If the return on your investment is not high enough, you will simply not be prepared to invest the sweat equity required to realise your goal.

Step Number 4: Determine The Obstacles In Your Way. This is key. You must determine  the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal.  What must you do to reach your goal? What habits and attitudes must you change? Remember, nothing is going to get better until YOU get better. Nothing is going to change unless YOU change. Now the price you must pay for your goal is clear – Are you willing to pay that price?

Step Number 5:  What Is Your Plan To Get Your Goal?  Aside from a deadline, the other difference between a wish and a goal is that a goal has a written plan. Having identified the reasons why you are currently unable to meet your goal in Step 4, you must now prepare a written plan to overcome each obstacle. Are you prepared to do what it takes?

Step Number 6:  Ask Some Important Questions. “Is the Prize worth the Price?” “Is the pay-value worth the price I have to pay for it?” If not then something needs to change. Either the goal, the time limit or the plan. Now we are beginning to get to the nitty gritty of why it is that some goals always seem to remain just outside of our grasp. Decide this at the outset. Don’t get half way through your goal and then quit.

Step Number 7:  Schedule Your Plan. Break your goal down into the day-to-day things that you need to accomplish, and write those things into your diary. If your goal is not scheduled as part of your day, it will not get done.

Step Number 8:  Start Now. Fairly obvious, but how many times have we scheduled things to start tomorrow?

Step Number 9:  Never Reach  A Goal Without First Setting Another One. - Goals are what drive us. They keep us hungry. A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder, directionless and adrift.

Step Number 10:  Never, Never Quit!

So there you have it. Some insights to help you set your goals and keep them on track to success.

Good luck with your goal setting and good luck with your goals!

There sure is! Applying the Biblical word “plan” for goal setting, it’s clear that God has plans and so do people. God blesses righteous plans and blasts away ones that aren’t so righteous! Above all, goals and plans are subject to the will of God.

Is goal planning even Biblical? You bet! God gives people plans:

“[King David] gave [Solomon] the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. (1 Chronicles 28:12)

Don’t discount goal planning as being “worldly!” Not unless you want to discount God too. But there are evil plans in this world and plans that are opposite to His will and moral will. These he will frustrate.

“He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.” (Job 5:12)

The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.” (Psalm 33:10)

“Crafty” means the schemers, the no-good-doers, the plotters. The nations get into the act too. God works both on the individual and global planes of the world; He is sovereign! And he warns those who plot in the darkness and who plan apart from his known will.

“Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” (Isaiah 29:15)

“‘Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin…’” (Isaiah 30:1)

Did I mention not making evil plans? Goal planning for unethical means is bad. So is planning goals that take you right out of the mainstream of God’s will for your life. Now be careful here ? God’s river is big and wide. I don’t believe in a one-choice-or-you’re-out narrow view of God’s will for you. I believe that for the Christian, there are many paths to many good outcomes and God is there on all of them. But there is a general direction and flow to the outcomes and we can observe it if we care to.

So goals and plans can be good things!

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” (Psalm 20:4)

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

And God has his sovereign plan! Planning and goal setting is a fine thing. But subject everything to the Lord’s guidance.

“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” (Psalm 33:11)

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Biblical Advice about Plans

I love the book of Proverbs. Along with great advice for faith, business and life, comes this counsel about planning:

Don’t plan in a vacuum, but run your plans and goals past other people. You don’t want to do this with every goal and at every stage in the game, but you should with big and important plans. Especially if they impact other people.

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)

Pray, pray some more, and then pray again! Surround your goals and plans with prayer and ask the Lord to bless you in their doing.

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

Ask God for wisdom as you plan and set goals. Involve him every step of the way as you go along and chart your progress. Don’t be afraid to make mid-course corrections as necessary.

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

Don’t forget the action part of planning! None of your work and thought will make a smidgen of difference if you don’t actually do something.

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)

Planning isn’t only all right to do, it’s positively wonderful!

“But the noble person makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.” (Isaiah 32:8)