Achieving Goals

This page presents wisdom about goals and how to define them.

Sound: Robin Williams saying Carpe Diem (Latin for “Seize the Day”). From the movie “Dead Poets Society”

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Priorities

“You get security from relationships, not achievements.”


Mission Statements

Patient Trust In Ourselves & The Slow Work Of God


by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are all, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new,
and yet it is the law of all progress that is made by passing through some stages of instability — and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually.
Let them grow.
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Why: Categories of Life Goals

Here are the reasons why people do what they do.

• Community - Connect to people with similar interests, objectives or beliefs
• Control - Control your economic, personal and physical space
• Education - Access to good schools
• Family Care - Meet the needs of children and relatives
• Health & Well Being - Ensure emotional and physical fitness
• Live Comfortably - Enjoy a suitable standard of living
• Peace of Mind - Feel confident that everything is in order
• Personal & Family Development - Access to enriching activities
• Proximity - Be near to people and services of importance
• Relaxation - Experience solitude or rest
• Safety - Live in a secure neighborhood
• Sense of Accomplishment - Enjoy the feeling of personal achievement
• Tax Reduction - Minimize payments to local, state and federal government
• Wealth Building - Increase financial holdings and assets

Adventures

“The first and most important thing about goals is having one.” —Geoffrey Abert

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." — Mark Twain

#	Do (Activity)	at (Place)	Why?	Progress so far
-	Action words	at a Carnegie Hall
1	Scuba dive around fish and sharks	Great Barrier Reef
1	Play tennis on	grass courts at Wimbleton, England
1	Drive race cars around	Indeapolis 500 raceway
1	Play golf	at _______
1	Ride a stunt bike	at _______
1	Hike to the	top of the world Himalayas in Napal
1	Sea Kayaking in the	Sea of Cortez
2	Be a contestant on the	Jeopardy TV Show
3	Make someone laugh on a	Comedy show like Seinfeld
4	Jump (Skydive)	out an airplane with a camera
5	Eat in	Disneyland's Club 31 in New Orleans Square
5	Perform at the	Magic Castle
6	Race a camel	across the desert
7	Ride a hot-air ballon	across Africa's Sarengetti
8	Pilot a helicopter	around Manhattan
9	Fly a real F-18 fighter jet	pass the sound barrier (not just with Microsoft Flight Simulator)
10	Jump on the	Moon
11	Appear in a	Jackie Chan movie
12	Appear on a	Star Trek show
13	Climb	Egyptian Pyramids
14	Dance at the	White House
15	Speak	Klingon

Purpose

“Don't get so busy making a living that you don't know what you're living for.” —Author unknown

“The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.” —Oliver W. Holmes

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” —Phillipians 3:14

And He [Jesus] said to them, "Go and tell that fox [Herod], 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.' —Luke 13:32
What is that goal?

Robert Allen, in his book Creating Wealth points out the difference between just having goals and finding a purpose in your life:

1. A goal comes from external motivation, a purpose comes from internal motivation.

2. A goal is where achievement is the reward, a purpose is where the journey is the reward.

3. A goal is future oriented, a purpose is now oriented.

4. A goal is unnatural, a purpose is second nature.

   Purpose seizes us, binds us rather than being deliberately crafted by us. —Robert Weber, The Created Self

I find goals to be shallow and distracting from the things that make life interesting. We can certainly have desires and a purpose; we can set our lives in a direction; but a goal, once it is achieved, is not satisfying. We merely start looking for the next goal. It is much more interesting to put our efforts into finding what we like to do and doing it.

It is harder to find your purpose in life, but it is far more rewarding than pursuing a goal.

Persistance

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith. —Habbakuk 2:3-4

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” —Proverbs 3:5

“If you will, it is no fairytale,” —Theodor Herzl's motto of the Zionist movement which established the state of Isreal.

“How much better to know that we have dared to live our dreams than to live our lives in a lethargy of regret.” —Gilbert Caplin

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. —Mark Twain

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” —John Wooden (UCLA basketball coach, 1964-75)

“It's never too late to be what you might have been.” —T.S. Eliot

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt

"I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced that they are about to change the world. I am more awed by...those who...struggle to make one small difference after another." —Ellen Goodman

Balance

In the C Zone, stress is positive because it is controlled.
In both the Panic and Drone Zone, stress is negative due to lack of control.

PANIC ZONE	C ZONE	DRONE ZONE
Too much challenge Not enough mastery	Challenge & Mastery	Not enough challenge Too much mastery
Overcommitted Overconfident Out of Control	Committed Confident In Control	Uncommitted Underconfident Overcontrolled
Nervous Scattered Hyper I Gotta!	Calm Focused Energized Can Do!	Lethargic Sluggish Bored Don't Chance It!

Teamwork

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. —1st Timothy 1:5 A reporter asked a man celebrating his one hundredth birthday, "What are you most proud of?" Replied the man, "That I've lived a hundred years and haven't an enemy in the world." Noting that the old man had a feisty nature, the reporter probed, "And how did you manage that?" Came the retort, "I've outlived every last one of them!"

“When you go out in the world, watch the traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” —Robert Fulgrum in Everything Thing I know I Learned in Kindergarten “We're not primarily put on this earth to see through one another but to see one another through.” —Peter DeVries

Limitations Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so? You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of god that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others. —by Helen Schucman (nee Cohn), who claims to have scribed a dictation from Jesus which she published as "A Course In Miracles" in 1973. Quoted by Nelson Mandella in 1994, by Marianne Williamson in Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles published 1992, and by the movie "Akeela and the Bee".

Controlling Others From Neil Anderson's Daily Devotional for August 7, 1998. (Distributed by Goshen.net) When a person's self-worth or success hinges on the achievement of a goal which can be blocked or which is uncertain or impossible, how will he respond to those who frustrate his goals? Often he will attempt to control or manipulate the people or circumstances who stand between him and his success. For example, a pastor's goal is to have the finest youth ministry in the community. But one of his board members blocks his goal by insisting that a music ministry is more important. Every attempt by the pastor to hire a youth pastor is vetoed by the influential board member who wants to hire a music director first. The pastor wrongly perceives that his sense of worth and success in ministry is on the line. So he shifts into a power mode to push the stumbling block out of the way. He looks for a way to change the opposition's mind or remove him from the board because he believes that his success in ministry is dependent on reaching his goal of a great youth ministry. A mother believes that her self-worth is dependent on her children behaving in a certain way. Her goal is to raise perfect little Christians who will become pastors or missionaries. But as the children reach their teen years and begin to express their independence, their behavior doesn't always match their mother's ideal. So instead of helping them grow through adolescence and releasing them into adulthood, she tries to control them. It is not hard to understand why people try to control others. They believe that their worth is dependent on other people and circumstances. This is a false belief as evidenced by the fact that the most insecure people you will ever meet are manipulators and controllers of others. But people who are secure in their identity in Christ don't need to control others. Their goal is to be the leader, spouse, parent or employee that God wants them to be because nothing can keep them from being what God wants them to be but themselves.

Letting Go “Feed an opportunity. Starve a problem.” —Peter F. Drucker David & Manasseh: Overcoming Failure Hit and Miss Goals: a personal view.

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