GOAL-SETTING: A TRIGGER FOR DOMINION

If you are just beginning a race it’s a dangerous thing to compete with a man that is about concluding his own.

LUKE 14:28-31

It is not how early or late you do it but how well you do it. You have to sit and count the cost.

Vision is the big picture while goal setting is breaking them into smaller bits.

Prov. 16: 5 – “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”

What is Goal-Setting?

It is a process of thinking about your ideal future. God will not set your goals for you therefore it gives you the sense of responsibility. It is motivating yourself to turn your vision to reality.

It is the process of identifying something you want to accomplish and establishing measureable steps and time frame. Goal setting isn’t complete without time frame.

It is a systematic breakdown of vision into smaller steps.

It is the feet on which your vision rides into fulfilment. Vison has no motion without goals.

Types of Goals

1. Time Goals: are long or short term. They are your bigger goals broken into small ones to be achieved during a set time.
2. Focus Goas: are major, big and audacious goals that impact on every other plan of the year.
3. Topic-based Goals: let you focus on your business, career, professional, personal and financial visions.

For every goal to be achieved, there must be a purpose. The purpose fires you up towards achieving the goals or lets you know if the goal is even worth pursuing now.

Why Goal-Setting?

Prov. 16: 9 – “A man’s heart devises his way: but the LORD directs his steps.”

It is your responsibility to have a plan and know the direction you want to follow – it is only then that God can direct your steps.

Imagine getting into your car and expecting the GPS to direct you – without providing the destination, you are not going anywhere. It is the same with God, what are your plans? What pictures are you seeing for your future? Where do you want God to lead you to?

Psa. 37: 33 – “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way.”

Because goals are observable and measurable end results, you need to set them! There is no measuring anything if no parameters are put in place.

So why goal-setting?

1. It gives long and short-term motivation.
2. It helps you focus your acquisition of knowledge.
3. It helps you to measure your progress rate.
4. It gives us confidence. Seeing your level of progress helps boost your confidence.
5. It helps you recognize your ability and your confidence. Sometimes if you don’t start out, you cannot know what you are capable of.
6. It helps you to choose what you want from life.
7. It helps you to identify the likely distractions and how to avoid them.
8. Goals help you go forward in a particular direction.
9. It gives clearer focus on what is important. Not everything is important for you now. Wants are different from needs — goal-setting helps you identify which is which.
10. It gives you clarity for your decisions.
11. It gives you control over your future – over your finance, and life in general.
12. It gives you a sense of personal motivation.
13. It helps you to overcome procrastination. Breaking down the goals and setting them into small and short-term goals helps you achieve the vision gradually.
14. It creates room for excellence – when you are consistent with working on your goals, you become better at what you do.
15. It creates accountability – you become accountable for all your actions, especially when you are answerable to someone.
16. It helps you achieve maximum results.
17. It helps you to unlock your potentials.
18. It makes you an expert in your own field.
19. It helps you with time management – an important factor if you must be successful.
20. It gives you the capacity to have what to do daily, weekly and monthly. It gives you continuous tasks.

How Do I Set Goals?

A goal is a desired result that is envisioned, planned for and committed to achieving.

How do you set your goals?

1. Consider what you want to achieve in your life and put it into your long-term plans. Whatever it is you want to become, be known for and/or achieve in your life is your ultimate long-term vision.
2. Set smaller goals – break down the larger goals into timed targets.
3. Create a weekly or daily to-do list. To-do lists (a) help you track your progress, (b) give you what to do, (c) help you manage time.
4. Stay on course. Matt. 6: 22. Staying on course on one thing helps you achieve it faster.
5. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals – that is, specific goals (dictate to life what you want – this is true dominion), measurable/meaningful goals, attainable goals, realistic goals and time-bound goals.
6. Start each goal as a positive statement.
7. Be precise – put time to the things you want to achieve.
8. Set performance goals and not outcome goals. Performance goals are what you want to do, outcome on the other hand are goals of what is supposed to be the end-result. Spend more time on what you are doing now to reach the expected end result.
9. Enjoy the satisfaction of every goal achieved. Celebrate yourself.
10. Constantly review your goals. Submit your goals to one who’s achieved more.
11. See failure as a teacher, not the master.
12. Get more education and information on your target.
13. Get an accountability partner or a system. Get a person that can be your check and balance.

 

Why Goals Fail

Luke 14: 28 – “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?”

If you have a tall vision, you do not rush. If you do not want to end up in failure, you sit down first and calculate.

There’s a place for sitting down, meditating and thinking.

In decision making, you need to be calm. Hasty decisions can kill or destroy your person or business.

Let’s look at some reasons why goals fail:

1. Setting too huge and big goals within a short period.
2. Setting goals without time frame at all.
3. Lack of plans for failure. Things will not always go out the way you plan – in that case and in preparation for that, what is your Plan B?
4. Over-spiritualizing everything. People spiritualize and “release angels” over what they should get up and get done!
5. Lack of mentoring. Learn to submit your goals to an accountability partner or system as discussed above.
6. Lack of purpose. Do not set goals without knowing why. Without purpose, abuse is inevitable. Having no purpose will lead to no drive.
7. Wrong focus. When you allow distractions, it takes your attention and affection off the important things. Do not focus your energy on things that are not good for you at the point in time.
8. Inferiority complex and self-doubt. A lack of faith in yourself and abilities is already a step toward failure. If your mind cannot accept it, you’ve automatically blocked the doors of achieving it. Kill complex.
9. This is the number one killer for some. Learn, aspire – but do not want to copy and paste because you want to be exactly from that person.
10. Lack of proper planning. Goals will not be achieved if you do not plan properly for them.
11. Lack of action. Make a decision to take action and steps this year.
12. Bad habits. Terrible habits like procrastination, pride, laziness, etc. are dream killers.
13. Excuses, excuses, excuses! Do not submit your dreams to excuses. Keep moving even when it is not convenient or comfortable.
14. Magnifying your fears more than your abilities.
15. Quitting too soon. Many people who are successes today have failed many times – do not quit at every point of difficulty or failure.

Say these prayers:

Lord, I receive understanding to plan out my life this year. I will not fail in Jesus’ name.

As I set goals for my life, the hand of the Lord will be upon me for fulfilment. Everything will work for me.

My vision will come to pass, my dreams will come to pass. I am growing, great things shall be added to me this year. I have provision for every vision.

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IT IS YOUR YEAR OF DOMINION!

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