How to Avoid Goal Dump This Year.

There is something unique and exhilarating about newness and Freshness. It’s exciting and simply hopeful. It’s the start of another new year, 2022, and then again, there’s that propelling force that gives you hope and grace to reset. And I’m sure you hear or read about setting goals everywhere you turn, but please note that goals are not overrated.

Despite the rough past two years in terms of covid and all, I accomplished 98% of my goals, and I confirmed this because I had them written down. For example, one of my primary goals for the past year was to quit my job to start my business, which was very significant.

I’m a great believer in writing down your goals and planning, especially after seeking Gods face for the new year, for two primary reasons;

“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail”

— Benjamin Franklin.

"Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it. For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.…"

The focus of this write up however is not on writing your goals as i know this has been over flogged and you can check up my previous posts on writing your goal here and for your daughters here. 

Lets address the issue of following through with our goals early on as it is never enough to write down your goals and not follow through with them. Aside of making our goals smart (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,Relevant and Time bound), what else can we do to achieve our goals this year?

• SEEK – It is very easy to take a pen and begin to write all that we wish to accomplish this year in terms of goals for all areas of our life, trying to do things in our own strength but very stressful mentally and so draining. It is always more achievablable, less stressful and highly achievable when we set out time to seek the face of God in a very quiet place to have him reveal to you what he will have you dwell on this year. When you do this you worry less about how your goals will be accomplished but solely living it to him who is able to do much more than you could ever think or eb\ven imagine. Whew!
• WRITE– After seeking the face of God, this is where you write down all what God lays on your mind to do in black and white and dated. Not on your heart please. You want to be able to go back and review your goals periodically.
• ACT – This is where we play our part. This is the one the major problems most people have. It is very easy to do the talking (I will do……. I can do…… ) but very difficult to carry out what we say we will do. It takes discipline and dedication to follow through with our words. Even after God gives you the grace, you still have to be the one to do it. One of the things that help me is to set up reminder on my phone calender. This year i’m trying out planning my year ahead on a physical calender in addition to the digital. I want to be able to see my year at a glance. If you have to wake up earlier to accomodate the new changes, please do so. Start your day with God by doing your quiet time first, this sets the tone of your day and its a no brainer, exercise if you can even its five minutes, shower, family altar………… Plan out your day by having a routine that works for you and your family.
• CHECK IN WITH SELF – Get a gratitude journal. Carve out time each night to write out what you are grateful for everyday even if its for 5 minutes. Aside for the fact that this excercise helps us to stay on top of our mental health, it helps us to reflect on the day and to focus on the positive only. For the grey days when you are discouraged you can go back and read of how gracious God has been to you. Have you or will you be trying this? Let me know in the comment section.
• ACCOUNTABILITY – Be accountable to someone. Prayerfully choose someone that you can be accountable to. Tell the person your goals and give them the permission to check in and be truthful to you.
• READ – This year invest in good books that will motivate you to be better and spend some time reading them daily even if it is a page you can read. Learning is a continous process and it helps in our daily growth.
• CELEBRATE WINS – Celebrate your wins and consistency as aften as required. It will encourage you to do more.
• SAVE – God wants us to be good stewards of the resources he blesses us with. This year, commit to save so when God creates opportunities for you, you can take advantage of it.
• MINDSET -Have a positive attitude and a great mindset this year. Flush out or let all negaivity slide right by you. Have a great outlook towards life and be filled with faith that is so great no one can talk you out of it.
• AVOID DISTRACTIONS – Socail media is a huge distraction and can slow you down or stop you from being great. This year be intentionalal about the time you spend on socail media if you are not actively working on there. Block out time to spend by setting up a reasonable time on your alarm or timer. Once the time set goes off, move on to the next productive thing on your list of to dos.

If you have your goals written and are already crushing them, take this post as an inspiration and encouragement to do more. On the other hand, if you are yet to write your goals, let alone stay consistent, take this post as a motivation to get started and get going.

Remember, your future depends on what you do now.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment.