Highly Motivated?

Goal-oriented is not a word that I would use to describe myself in general, which may translate into not being a highly motivated person either. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making goals and writing them down in lists with ways to achieve those goals. However, there is a disconnect somewhere between the brainstorming of them, the writing them down and actually accomplishing them. One reason may be that I don’t review my goals often or even think about them. One way to put it may be that I am not intentional or purposeful with them.

I was watching a show yesterday and they had an expert on with a list of 5 Secrets of Motivated People. Put anything in list form and I am bound to like it. Ha ha. Honestly, though, I liked what she had to say in her list, so I thought I would share them here.

Secret #1: Anticipate speed bumps in your plan. Before even trying to achieve a goal, plan for potential pitfalls and either preempt them if you can, or come up with a strategy to deal with them if they arise.

Secret #2: Go public with your goal. It’s harder to abandon a dream when you know that people are tracking your progress.

Secret #3: Challenge yourself, and change things up. It’s hard to remain enthusiastic when everything stays the same.

Secret #4: Consider how what you’re doing benefits others.

Secret #5: Make it meaningful.

More details on each item are listed here as I have only included some of the details.

Well, in going along with Secret #2 above, I figured I should "go public" with my goals. When I sat down in January, my thought process was that I needed to be more intentional in everything that I do - that it should all have purpose. As a result, I came up with five categories of goals: spiritual, physical, mental/emotional, church, and marriage. For today, I will just share my spiritual goals and save the others for the next few days.

Spiritual Goals

• Closer relationship with God
• Daily Bible study
• Start my day with prayer
• Develop Christ-like character
• Study and know Christ and His life
• Consciously think about His character and choose to live that way
• Pray to be changed into His likeness
• Grow in my understanding of God
• Pray - listen and talk to God regularly
• Set aside at least 15 minutes a day
• Write out prayers when possible (helps to maintain focus and also to go back and see how God is working)
• Talk with God throughout my day
• Miscellaneous Goals
• Read through the Bible this year
• Memorize a verse every 2 weeks

Just for the record, with these (and all the other goals for that matter), I have failed miserably at some and others I'm actually not doing too bad. It was great to re-read these as I was sharing them as a refresher for myself.
 
Aiming to be more intentional in my life and live a life of purpose is truly my ultimate goal, whether it be in how I love others, spend my time, or use my resources. These helpful steps and subsequent goals are hopefully just the beginning.