We’ve got your daily encouragement, written by Nate Hemphill.
Reading:
Proverbs 21:5
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
Word:
I recently read some really interesting statistics on goal setting:
- Approximately 83% of people surveyed had no concrete goals at all.
- 14% had goals but they weren’t written down,.
- Only 3% had goals that were written and regularly reviewed.
As you might imagine, the group in the 3% minority were up to 3X more likely than anyone else to actually accomplish their goals. Pro-tip to set yourself in the top 1% of high achievers, take your written goals to someone you trust to hold you accountable for regular action updates, then you have an even higher probability of success.
As 2020 is drawing to a close and all of the high-achieving Athlete Word of the Day readers are setting their goals for 2021 – let me give you one more important thing to consider this year. I’d encourage you to bring your goals to God. Go through each one and have a conversation with the Lord about why this goal is important to you. What challenges do you anticipate at the outset? How can your accomplishment of this goal be used for the growing the Kingdom? Who would the Lord bring alongside you to be held accountable to for taking action? Be honest and totally transparent in your prayer and write down what you hear the Holy Spirit telling you.
It is no accident that you have these desires and inclinations for achievement. The God of the universe made you and equipped you to go after big scary things – but not in your own power and strength! Remember that God regularly uses the weak to overpower the strong and the simple to confound the wise. By inviting God into your goal setting, you turn your mundane journey into an epic adventure. There are no guarantees that things will be easy, but you can be at rest knowing that God is on your side.
Prayer:
God, I see areas of my life that I want to improve on. Please open my eyes and make me sensitive to how you want me to prioritize working on these areas. Please give me the boldness, strength, and courage I need to act on these. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Skillwork:
This year when you write down your 2021 goals, take some time to have a conversation with God about each one. The Lord can help you tie the goal to the real “why” of its importance.
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