Putting Your Goals in Motion

What do you want to accomplish in life?

You are between the ages of 13 to 19—some reading are even younger or older. But how many goals have you really came up with, written down on paper and achieved?

Maybe you desire to set goals but you tend to shoot from the hip. Others have goals written down but have not achieved many or any of them.

Simply put, a goal is the result or end toward which focused effort is directed. But the biggest reason many do not achieve them is they do not understand how to set a goal.

For this reason, the very first law from our booklet The Laws to Success is simple—“set the right goal!”

The book states: “Almost invariably, people allow circumstances to dictate the course of their lives. Few actually sit down and plan in advance what they hope or want to achieve over a long period. Even fewer determine in advance what they want to have achieved before they die. And even if one did reach many short, medium and long-term goals, including those that spanned many years, or even a lifetime, this is of no value unless he established the right goal. Only the goal based on the correct understanding of true success can be considered the right goal.”

Your life will be more satisfying and fulfilling when you achieve things, and to achieve more you need to set goals.

An acronym called SMART, which was first coined and developed by management experts in the 1980s to bolster employees’ chances of success, will help you set the right goal.

Specific

There is a major difference between a broad and a specific goal.

If you do not have a clear goal how will you know when you have reached it? For instance, imagine a racehorse jockey has a general goal of wanting to get his horses to cross the finish line faster. It is a goal, but the details on how to accomplish it are vague.

Having a specific goal includes an outlined plan detailing how to achieve the goal with various performance metrics to see how well you did.

An example of a specific goal would be for the jockey to have the horses get used to wearing blinders. Prior to wearing blinders, the jockey noticed his racehorse had small increments of intense focus and easily got distracted by its surrounding environment. The blinders are applied to help the horse focus on what is right in front of him so not to get sidetracked by elements in his peripheral vision, to help him reach his specific goal of crossing the finish line faster.

As you draw out specifics of your goal, ask yourself the five “W” questions (according to an article on career and management learning website Mind Tools): “What do I want to accomplish? Why is this goal important? Who is involved? Where is it located? Which resources or limits are involved?”

In contrast to this example, you may have a goal to better relate to God and practice the tools of Christian growth. A way to make that more specific is to “pray for 15 minutes a day” or “study a book of the Bible.” You could even write “ask minister this Sabbath for opportunities to serve others in the congregation.”

Here are a few more examples of broad goals that can be made specific: Achieving a good education, finding a summer job, spending quality time with your family, getting in shape by exercising, learning to play an instrument, and saving for AYC are all goals of one size or another.

To make them more specific, let’s take education for example. Instead of saying “I want to do well in school,” say “I want to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average.” Or you can make it a goal to take an elective you are uncomfortable with to step out of your comfort zone.

Taking the time to clearly define each goal will help you track your performance and understand exactly what you want to achieve.

Measurable

Having measurable goals means putting quantities on your goal so that you can know what progress you are making on it. “I’d like to spend more time with my parents” cannot be measured. “I’d like to spend 30 minutes with my parents each day without any distractions” will make it clear whether you have failed or succeeded.

If your goal is to pray more, aim for 15 minutes at a specific time each day. You can also break it into smaller pieces, tracking your time you spend in prayer each day. You may choose to start small and pray for five minutes in the morning, afternoon and evening. Then gradually increase the time you spend in prayer.

Also, be sure to track your progress. For instance, you can write down various things you want to pray to God about and use this list to help guide your prayers. Use a notebook, cellphone app, calendar or any other daily progress tracking tool that allows you to look back and see how you are reaching your destination.

Attainable

An attainable goal is one that can be accomplished in a reasonable frame of time.

Ask yourself: Will I actually be able to accomplish this goal?

Some of your ambitions may be premature, financially infeasible or beyond your ability to achieve. You would be setting yourself up for failure and disappointment if you attempted them.

An extreme example would be a person who has never participated on a school sports team with the goal of playing in major league baseball. Except for very special circumstances, a lifetime would not be enough to achieve this objective.

But for the same person to say, “I’d like to learn how to throw a baseball with a proper arm angle,” that is reachable and realistic.

Seek counsel and advice from others with experience and knowledge when setting targets, especially bigger life decisions like a career (Prov. 11:14; 15:22). This is one way to determine if your goal is realistic and if your natural abilities fit within this particular field.

A realistic spiritual goal you can easily achieve each day is to read a chapter a day of the book of Proverbs or Psalms.

Relevant

Perhaps the most important thing to consider before pursuing a goal is whether it has value. A relevant goal is one that benefits you, other people and your overall purpose.

Think: Is your goal relevant to your long-term goals? Is it helpful to others?

These are important since it is almost impossible to stay motivated if your goal does not make a difference in other parts of your life. But it is also crucial. As a teenager in God’s Church, you should be developing a mindset of giving—whether that means contributing to Church, assisting other members, or bettering yourself so that you can serve in a greater capacity.

With that in mind, one goal that should be considered irrelevant is mastering a video game (it may bring temporary pleasure, but this will not benefit anyone else).

Look out for and weed out irrelevant goals: Anything that does not fit under the umbrella of building a relationship with God, helping others, maintaining your health, preparing for adulthood, personal development and so forth should be less important.

Your most important goal should be aspiring to be baptized and becoming a leader in God’s Kingdom (Matt. 6:33). Keep this at the forefront of your mind as you hit daily goals such as prayer and Bible study.

Timely

Without a specific start and end time for your goal, motivation can slip and give way to procrastination.

In other words, you must have a hard start and cutoff date to accomplish an objective. This will help keep you driven even when you encounter setbacks (Prov. 14:23).

You only have about 16 waking hours each day—and most of that involves school and family activities. In order to slot time for your goal, you may need to adjust your schedule or sacrifice personal time slots. During weekdays you could use early mornings, time after school or after dinner prior to going to bed. Be creative and use down time at school or during wait times on bus or car rides.

The Challenge

No matter how big or small your goal, making changes requires planning, and SMART goal setting can be helpful. God will help you have the energy and motivation to achieve your goals in life if you seek Him and desire to do His will (Psa. 119:2; Phil. 2:13).

Now to apply the SMART technique, you are being challenged to read the booklet The Laws to Success. It has 27 pages, which you could break into four pages a day. Or you can go through one law per day.

This is attainable—and absolutely relevant for every teen in God’s Church. You all can do this!

After you have done so, get started with goal setting. Take the SMART goal-setting challenge and begin applying the crucial first law of success, setting the right goal.

It will forever change your thinking and you will be amazed at the results!