I have to admit it~ I love goals/resolutions/writing a mission statement. I know there aren't many of us who thrive on it, but I do! Each year (over Christmas vacation), my husband & I grab the kids and begin to discuss what each persons' goals are for the next year. We have been writing a "mission statement" and goal setting as a family for 10+ years now. At this stage in the game, my kids are armed & ready with their goals for the following year...and as they get older, the goals are more thought-provoking and life-changing. For example: My middle child (Katelyn) is graduating from high school this year, so one of her goals this year is to press into the Lord to see what He has for her next fall. (She feels that she has heard from Him in this area, but she is going to continue to listen to her Shepherd's voice.) My oldest child (Lindsay) has a goal "seeking what the Lord has next for her--the next season He may have her walk into". (Of course my prayer in this goal of Lindsay's would be that God would provide a loving man to be her husband & best friend.) Then our youngest child (Jonathan, who is 11 years old) has set a goal to get faster in swimming (he wants to keep taking seconds off his times) and to "eat the scroll" (a term from the book of Ezekiel)--to get into the Word of God & meditate & memorize it. It is a joy to watch God work in my children as they seek Him for goals for the following year.
As we approach each year, my husband & I begin asking the Lord to give us a statement or scripture to guide our life for that year. This year (2009), God gave me the words "Do the right thing". I first heard those words in a commercial on tv in November 2008. I didn't pay much attention to it, but then in the next week, I heard the same words four different times. That got may attention. So I began asking the Lord, "Is this what you have for us in 2009--to do the right thing." I discussed it with Greg (my hubby) and we prayed into it. Nothing else was taking the place of those words, so that became our Mission Statement for 2009~"Do the right thing". I place the mission statement on our fridge with everyone's goals. We can be reminded daily of the mission and our individual goals--it serves as our "focus" for the year.
Think of a puzzle. If you put all the pieces of a puzzle on the table and begin to put the pieces together, it is helpful to have the picture of the finished product in front of you, so you know where to put all the pieces. If you didn't have the picture, it would make the puzzle a lot more difficult to put together--if you don't even know what it is suppose to be! We did this experiment during the "Mission Possible" night. Women gathered to write a mission statement and set goals for the new year and celebrate what God did in 2008! We divided into groups; some groups had a puzzle in the box, so they could see the picture. Others got the puzzle pieces in a lunch sack. They had to try to figure out what the picture was suppose to be....I explained how this activity is much like living life without the direction/guidance of goals or a mission statement. It helps to keep life focused. Even with a mission statement, there are times during the year where I am totally off! But, the mission brings me back in check. The goal when writing a mission statement is this: stay on course 80% of the time!
As you begin to think through some goals for this new year or if you want to write a mission statement, I have a ten tips:
1) Get alone with God~ sit before Him quietly; thanking Him for all His faithfulness in the previous year; ask Him what He might have for you in the new year
2) Ask the Lord to make a statement or scripture or idea jump off the page or stand out among all others or repeat it over and over
3) Be realistic. Don't write your "dreams for life" in the mission for the year. Make this year a stepping stone to fulfilling those dreams that God has placed in your heart.
4) The goal for 2009~ stay on course 80% of the time
5) You may need to change your goals as the year goes on; stay flexible
6) Write out your mission statement and keep it in a prominent place where you will see it daily
7) Don't have too many goals. 2-3 realistic goals are great! You may want to have a goal in 3 different areas of your life or you may want to focus on 1 area this year. (Work, relationships, physical body, spiritual life, heart--mind/will/emotions)
8) This exercise is not for everyone! Achievers will love it! Spontaneous people will not!
9) The reason for mission statements and goal setting (according to me):
"Be very careful then, how you live~ not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16)10) Have fun with it!
