Get a Jump Start on Making Change a Reality

If you want to see your life in a whole new way, start planning now. The thing is, there’s a huge difference between dreams and goals. Goals with time frames and measurable results are a key to success. Without goals you flounder, you’re idle, and you’re missing out on fulfilling our purpose.

In his book, “Get a Life! It’s All About You, Reggie McNeal discusses what it’s like to live a goalless life. His theory is that people want to live well, achieve goals, and change their lives. “They just keep putting it off. They are going to get around to it someday. The trouble with this attitude is that it ignores a fundamental truth: The way you are living today is how you are living life. None of us get today back. We can choose to defer living until some circumstances are met, but that means every day until then is another lost day of life.”

McNeal is right—goals with time frames and measurable results are a key to success. Without goals we flounder, we’re idle, and we’re missing out on fulfilling our purpose.

How Did Lucinda Get a Jump Start?

Lucinda wanted a new job. She’d been in the same position for three years. Though she’d done her work with diligence and precision, she found herself bored with her work, disenchanted with her pay, and wondering what would be next. After spending a year in limbo, not knowing what she wanted but knowing she didn’t like where she was, Lucinda was confident that she was capable of more.

Finally, a job opportunity presented itself. Lucinda wasn’t sure if it was the “right” job, but she barreled forward giving it all she had. She revamped her resume, practiced interviewing, researched the competition, talked to people in the field, and did her best to shine. Ultimately, Lucinda got the job. She attributes her success to “thinking” and says that it had more to do with the way she pursued it than her qualifications. “If I hadn’t spent the months prior thinking about what I wanted and trying to figure out how to get there, I wouldn’t have been ready to try when opportunity knocked,” she says.

The reality is, we were all meant for more. Lucinda knew it when she mundanely sat at her desk. Her job made her feel mediocre, and she felt that there were bigger things for her to accomplish. Lucinda believed that God created her for a specific purpose, and work was part of that purpose. She started by figuring out the things she was best at and how those abilities could fit into another job.

McNeal asks, “When you get to heaven and face the God who created you, what do you think He will ask you? Do you think He will ask you, ‘Why weren’t you more like Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul II?’ No, my hunch is He will ask you, ‘Why were you more like you?’” Learning to embrace who we’ve been created to be is a huge part of finding our purpose and fulfilling it.

How You Can Get a Jump Start?

The bottom line - we were created to accomplish things and to impact the world. Part of accomplishing anything starts with setting a goal. Where do you want to be financially? Spiritually? Emotionally? Physically? Is any area of your life is lacking, then it is time for you to put some goals into action. Here are four tips to give you a jump start and to help you make your big change.

1. Assess your situation. Half the battle in setting goals is slowing down long enough to think and plan. Block off some time to take a good, hard look at where you are and spend some time considering where you’d like to be. Then ask yourself a few questions: Are you satisfied with your job? Are your relationships healthy? Do you know what you’re really passionate about? Have you found a way to work that passion into your career, your hobbies, and your day-to-day life? If you could live differently, how would you choose to live?
2. Write it down. Whether it’s a journal or list of pros and cons about your life, putting those thoughts to paper makes them real. According to peak performance psychologist, Paige Kearin, “When you write down goals, you will increase the possibility of reaching them. Writing down goals in specific terms forces you to think about whether you really need or want a particular goal. It also helps you decide whether you are willing to spend the time or money necessary to achieve the goal.”
3. Rally the troops. Everybody needs a network of support. Whether it’s family, friends, or coworkers, accountability works wonders for accomplishing goals and fulfilling purpose. Share your ideas and dreams for your life. Should you lose course, your supporters will remind you of what you’re really made to do.
4. One piece at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a life of purpose. Successful and purposeful living doesn’t just happen. It takes thought, prayer, diligence, and time. By setting short-term goals that help you reach your long-term potential, you’ll get there.