Goals aka Dreams With Deadlines

Goals Are Dreams With Action Attached To Them.

Sometimes I think we needlessly suffer because we don’t set realistic goals we can hold ourselves accountable to. I once attended a funeral where an illustration was given that the man who died had used in his life to prod others to set goals.  He would hand a basketball to someone

and ask them to shoot a basket. They would look around very puzzled and ask “shoot at what, there is no basket” Exactly! Where are those baskets (goals) to shoot for?

When my son James was learning to drive we got in an accident on the way to church. Because of his inexperience on the icy road, he lost control and we went into the snowbank. Anne and I often joke how the devil tried to kill us on the way to church! James had to go back on the snowmobile and retrieve the missing pieces to my car! I made some goals that night, one to get my car repaired asap, two, that James would never drive again!

The goals I believe we need to set for ourselves are both natural and spiritual. If we don’t push ourselves to reach higher we simply won’t.  I am a completely disorganized person. I lose things all the time. I have tried a planner but that has also disappeared. My sewing room was a very scary place.  Even my dog was afraid of getting lost in there. I completely cleaned all the cabinets at once instead of by some logical method. Oh what a complete and utter disaster!  So I forced myself to set a deadline. It was so discouraging to go in there. My sewing machines were literally buried. I really thought the room was uncleanable! I really, really want  to sew and there was only one way to reach that goal. I decided to set small goals that were attainable each day. Little by little I started to make progress and yes I reached my goal. My sewing room is cleaned and more organized than it has ever been.

It is truly rewarding to set goals and successfully reach that finish line. Only 5% of the people rise above the standard of life they were born into. Wow.  You have probably heard the quote “goals that are written down are dreams with deadlines” I believe we have to challenge ourselves but not reach for unattainable goals.  I believe we need to ask ourselves if what we are doing today is getting us closer to where we want to be tomorrow? Setting goals that we can reach and set them again.  Successful people are always setting goals and they prioritize them.  Someone told me “if it doesn’t challenge you it won’t change you” I beieve that to be true. In our walk with the Lord we constantly are seeking to become more like Christ.  How we spend our time dictates  how serious we are about our purpose here on earth as well as where we will spend eternity.

The barn in the picture today is a dream with a deadline. When our barn burned to the ground we set a new goal, to rebuild the barn of our dreams within a reasonable amount of time. It stands as a legacy of worthwhile goals aka dreams with a deadline.