“This one thing I do… reaching forward… I press toward the goal”
Phil 3:13-14
- Having no goals at all. Human beings are designed and created by a purposeful God to live purposeful lives! We need a reason to live as urgently as we need our next breath. People actually become suicidal when their life seems to lose its meaning. Living without any goals is just sitting on a bench waiting to die.
- Having vague goals. Comedienne Lily Tomlin said, “I always wanted to be somebody. I guess I should have been more specific.” An ambiguous hope for a better future isn’t enough to make it happen. Chances are that if you aim at everything you will hit nothing.
- Having the wrong goals. Some people are passionately committed to all the wrong things. Self-serving ambitions like getting rich and famous ultimately leave people feeling empty and unfulfilled, even if they do achieve them. Setting loftier goals tends to make you a bigger and better and happier person.
- Having small goals. Sometimes the fear of failure prompts us to just aim for less. But like D. L. Moody once said, “My greatest fear is not of failure, but of succeeding at that which doesn’t matter.” There is great reward in conquering a giant. Not so much in conquering a kitten.
- Having no plan. A goal without a plan is just a dream. If we are serious about reaching our goals then we need a detailed strategy – a game plan that outlines each successive step and a timeline to act on.
If there was a sixth mistake I could list it would be simply giving up too easily. Nothing of real value comes without some effort and sacrifice on our part. Anybody can quit when the way is hard. The winners in life are often just those who refused to give up. So set yourself some God-sized goals; get started; and just don’t quit. The poet Longfellow said, “The heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
