I have had many discussions with people regarding goals, the future, dreams, plans, what they want to be when they grow up, etc. Discussions with retired folks, tired folks, young people, newly wed, nearly wed, happy singles (and those not wanting to be single) and even children. Sometimes the individual is very focused on what their goal is, sometimes not so much. Sometimes the individual has no idea about the future, other times the future is so intricately planned I wonder if there is any room for a hiccup. From all my discussions I have found this topic to be one of great stress and consternation.

Through my life I have found a number of things that have helped me, and equally a number of things that have frustrated me when I make goals. Over the next few blog postings I would like to share with you some of my thoughts about goals and I would love to have your feedback, comments or questions.

When I went from elementary school to high school my parents decided to enroll me (and a number of my siblings) into our local church school which was just starting out. My temper tantrums and manipulations did not change my parents mind, it only gave them more resolve. The school was not set in a traditional classroom, but rather each student had their desk referred to as a cubicle (the sides of the desk were high enough to discourage communication with your neighbouring student, whether she was a cute girl or a sport fanatic like myself). The mindset behind the school was for individual learning and not classroom style learning.

One of the first lessons we were taught and required to do was to make a ‘goal’ for the day. This took the form of a chart where we wrote each subject down and then wrote how many pages we were going to do in that subject for the day. It did not take long for some of us to realize that if we set ‘low’ goals we would then get our schoolwork completed sooner and we could fool around (whatever that look liked). Shortly after we came upon this great realization we encountered another ‘light bulb’ moment. If we set ‘low’ goals that were not stretching or pushing us it would take us much longer to complete our prescribed material (long term goals) and thus our school year would be lengthened (not something any active young boy desires or wants). Our goals needed to reflect our long term dreams and not just our short term desires

The lessons I learned are:
• if you set too low of a goal you will not stretch yourself
• if you set a short sighted goal you may adversely affect your long term goal
• your short term goals should reflect your long term goals
• set your long term goals, then set your short term goals

I guess I learned a few more things than just the Pythagoras Theorem and Newton’s Laws;

What are some goals that you have set?
Do your short term goals reflect your long term plans?

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5 NLT)

Working towards my goals,
david