Have you ever played darts? For me, it’s a good night when I don’t miss the board entirely and send the dart ricocheting across the room.
Imagine if there was no dart board. We’d all just be throwing darts at a wall with no idea how we were doing. We’d probably, eventually decide that maybe one of us was doing it right and we’d start using his dart as our target to aim at.
That’s what it’s like when we don’t set goals for ourselves. We end up floating through life, frustrated that we’re not making any progress – and we may even begin to look at the people around us and say, “I need to do what they’re doing,” or “I need to get the things they have in order to be happy, fulfilled, and successful.” What we really need is to define our own goals based on the things that are important to us and start taking steps to get here.
Dave Ramsey recommends you set goals for these seven areas of life, and I agree:
- Financial goals
- Spiritual goals
- Fitness goals
- Educational goals
- Family goals
- Career goals
- Social goals
It’s important to start big with a long-term vision for each, and then come up with a short-term goal to get you one step closer to that vision from where you are right now. Once you hit that goal consistently, set another, and so on. Your vision may end up changing for one or many areas and that’s fine. Adjust and set new goals.
I challenge you to come up with a long-term vision and short-term goal for each of the seven areas. If you’re married, sit down with your spouse and go through the list together. It’ll unify the vision you have for your life, and give you both some encouragement and accountability along the way.
It’s hard to hit a target if you’re not aiming at it – even harder if there is no target.
July 6, 2018