I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and the glow of gratitude hasn’t left your heart! Carry it forth into the end of this year, and you will have a full heart!
I have a confession to make: For years I was allergic to goal setting!
Do you ever get triggered when you hear or feel it’s time to set your goals? I did, but it wasn’t always that way….
As a young woman who had a positive attitude, good head on her shoulders, and enough determination to make almost anything happen, I was able to accomplish a lot! 
But sometimes, after working like a dog to achieve my goals, I discovered my goals did not bring me the satisfaction or happiness that I was hoping for.
Case in point: After working so hard in law school, and then getting one of the highest paid jobs out there, I was totally befuddled when I didn’t feel the joy or fulfillment I had expected. Talk about confusion and disappointment!
Other times, it was other people’s goals that I had to achieve. Quotas, company mandates, network marketing advancements… so much pressure to perform! If I didn’t then, I was tempted, and often succumbed to feeling like a failure.
As a Christian, I was taught that we had to be really careful to not step out ahead of God, and it wasn’t about our agenda’s but His.
And when phrasing like, “If it’s His will…” was thrown around, how do you dare set down a goal? Little did I realize that much of what I was taught as a Christian unwittingly created much double-mindedness and uncertainty in me, making true progress almost impossible!
I eventually became allergic to setting goals.
And so, I sought God – daily – about goal setting, strategies, and taking action. I wanted His perspective.
God said we have the mind of Christ, and I needed access to it. In fact, I wanted everything He came to give us, everything that excited Him, everything He paid a heavy price for. I did not want to leave any change on the table. Something was in the way of me getting great results in life, in my business, and in my ministry and I was determined to figure out what.
I would love to pass on to you the wisdom God has given me about goal setting and “goal getting”, as my dear friend, Kathie Nelson, puts it. Over the next several weeks, as we approach the new year, when goals get set, inspiration rises, but hidden fears also surface, I will be creating a series on Goal Setting that will dismantle the mystery of goal setting, and give a nuts and bolts approach that will relieve and elevate you!
Would you like that?
Well, here is the first installment!
Principle #1
Set goals that are bigger than is possible for you to do on your own.
Say what? Aren’t we to have goals that are objective, measurable, and attainable? Don’t we risk setting ourselves up for failure if we aim too high?
Well, it depends on who is doing the work! I discovered that when I set a goal that was within my own abilities, all my insecurities would remind me of times I had failed!
However, when I set a goal that I had never achieved before, the pressure was lifted, and an exhilaration over what God would do arose. And then to see it come to fruition? Wow! But it wasn’t just a random, once in a lifetime occurrence that God wanted me to experience, but rather, to live in the expectation of Him fulfilling audacious goals 24/7.
In Exodus 34:10, the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.”
God desires to and will do awesome work FOR us. Yes! While we do have a part to play, and we will get into that in a later email installment, it isn’t all about us gathering up all of our strength and wisdom and whatever! I am looking for the super on my natural!
Ephesians 3:20 says that according to the power at work within us, God is continuously doing exceedingly more than we can even think, imagine, pray or dream!
So, how do we fit that into goal setting?
Well, I don’t know what it means to you, but what it means to me is… 
God has big goals in mind for us! It means that I need to think bigger, bolder, and higher! It means I can set goals that are beyond my experience, education, eloquence, current resources and connections … get the picture?!
With His desire and ability to promote, protect, and provide for us, what can’t we do?
While this does sound tantalizing, we must ask… How do I KNOW that my big desires/goals/results that I am looking for are in His will? Stay tuned for Principle #2 in our next installment!
Please post your thoughts, apprehensions, or experiences with goal setting in the comments below! How do you feel about goal setting? Thank you!