Spiritual Goal Setting: Your Road Map to Successful Spiritual Living
8/27/2020 - Author: Jason Cook - Searchlight Organization
Warning: This article is not for the perfect Christian. That being said, the question of, “Am I a good enough Christian” plagues many of us. “Am I praying enough? Is missing church sinful? Should I wander out into the desert for 40 days and nights?” All valid questions. The truth is these questions creep into our mind in order to convict us of our progress. A sort of “checks and balances” system allowing us to examine ourselves and determine how far into this spiritual construction project we really are. Though we will always have a “construction zone” sign hanging on our hearts, goal setting can be a very effective way to help us grow spiritually and, ultimately, help us fulfill our spiritual calling. So how can goal setting help us become more spiritual?
The first thing to remember is that spirituality takes practice. It’s not necessarily always easy to achieve spirituality and none of us are ever in the same place spiritually or developmentally. Much like an athlete trains for the big game utilizing specific techniques and methods to improve performance, we too must seek continuous improvement in various aspects of our spiritual lives. The techniques we use should help us improve our faith, experience the work of the Holy Spirit, and open our minds to the power of God. That is what I want to discuss with you as you read ahead.
Find Your Calling
As members of the same team, we as Christians, have a passion to grow closer to God, but we do not all play the same position. Imagine the spectacle if everyone on a football team decided to be quarterbacks or everyone on a baseball team wanted to be pitchers. Clearly the game wouldn’t get very far. That is why every team member has a different set of skills and has trained endlessly to become very skilled at doing a specific thing. Some are good at defending, some good at throwing, and some are good at running. By using goal setting, we can explore our spiritual calling, or roles, in a deeper and more meaningful way.
Whether you seek to help the homeless, assist the elderly, become a spiritual leader, teaching children, healing, or pursue one of endless possible combinations of spiritual pursuits, goal setting is the vehicle that will drive you from where you are now to the destination you desire. How do you know where the destination is?
Activity
Think of some of the ways that you would enjoy serving God. Do you have specific talents or areas of interest that you are attracted to? Use those interests and talents to come up with 5 ways to serve God while doing something you enjoy.
Infinite Goals
There are many goals to choose from that will help you reach your destination. The bible is full of hints on what we should be doing to achieve a state of fulfillment and achieve spirituality. Here is a list of examples you could revolve your own personal goals around in order to start feeling more spiritually fulfilled.
If you’re only doing one or a few of these things well, that is completely and 100% okay. It is also okay if you haven’t been great at achieving any of these, but have the will to do better. This is why I say the Christian path is a journey and none of us are, or need to be, in the same place.
Activity
Choose a topic from the list of examples above and think of a way you could integrate a small level of activity several times a week, each day, or per month. For instance, let’s say you wanted to make a goal of reading scripture for an average of 20 minutes per day. This could be transformed into a goal of 140 minutes per week. Now feel free to fit in scripture reading anywhere in your schedule, even if it is very chaotic, to meet that weekly goal of 140 minutes. Read during your lunch break, a few minutes before work, or a little before bed time. If you do better with a daily routine, you could keep the goal of reading 20 minutes per day at the same time each day.
Some additional examples of activity could be:
Importance of Routines and Time Management
By integrating time bound and sensible routines, you begin to transform your goals from passive wishes to tangible actions. To say that you would like to begin volunteering is a great, and much needed, first step, but once you acknowledge what you want to do, be sure to follow it up with an action statement: “On Monday evenings from 5 PM until 7 PM, for 3 months during the summer, I am going to help the elderly on my block with lawn care. The power of detail is what turns your goal into a tangible reality that you can now understand and create action around. In that one statement of action, you have created a weekly routine, decided on a time in which you can schedule other things around, and have a measurable goal that has a beginning date and an end date. You are now empowered to achieve your goal.
Once the time period is up, it is then time to review your goal. Using the example of volunteering we used above, decide whether it was effective and how it could be improved. You may decide to build upon it, alter it, or change your goal completely. In the case of the “lawn care for the elderly” example, it is absolutely fine to realize after 3-months you didn’t feel fulfilled and, instead, formulate a new way to volunteer in your community.
Coaching
If keeping track of multiple goals seems kind of difficult and time consuming, there is a solution for this. Goal Success Coaching. As a goal success coach, I help Christians come up with effective solutions and goal strategies so they can focus more on achieving progress in their spiritual lives, wellness, health, or personal pursuits from a Christian perspective. By systematically tracking goals and achievements while providing priceless accountability, I help my Christian clients grow exponentially and experience success from a mind, body, and soul holistic-style approach. This helps my clients gain focus, clarity, and confidence with confidence being the key.
Be Confident
Never compare your spirituality with others and be absolutely kind to yourself. The only person you need to impress is yourself, because only you have lived your exact experiences. Your spirituality is ultimately and uniquely your own, as your path and destiny is yours alone. With that said, I wish you the greatest of blessings as you begin to form your spiritual goals, create routines that help you achieve them, and track your results to help you stay empowered and motivated. Cheers to your success! Stay blessed, friends.
Author: Jason L. Cook
Searchlight Organization - www.searchlightorganization.com
Copyright Date: 8/27/2020
The first thing to remember is that spirituality takes practice. It’s not necessarily always easy to achieve spirituality and none of us are ever in the same place spiritually or developmentally. Much like an athlete trains for the big game utilizing specific techniques and methods to improve performance, we too must seek continuous improvement in various aspects of our spiritual lives. The techniques we use should help us improve our faith, experience the work of the Holy Spirit, and open our minds to the power of God. That is what I want to discuss with you as you read ahead.
Find Your Calling
As members of the same team, we as Christians, have a passion to grow closer to God, but we do not all play the same position. Imagine the spectacle if everyone on a football team decided to be quarterbacks or everyone on a baseball team wanted to be pitchers. Clearly the game wouldn’t get very far. That is why every team member has a different set of skills and has trained endlessly to become very skilled at doing a specific thing. Some are good at defending, some good at throwing, and some are good at running. By using goal setting, we can explore our spiritual calling, or roles, in a deeper and more meaningful way.
Whether you seek to help the homeless, assist the elderly, become a spiritual leader, teaching children, healing, or pursue one of endless possible combinations of spiritual pursuits, goal setting is the vehicle that will drive you from where you are now to the destination you desire. How do you know where the destination is?
Activity
Think of some of the ways that you would enjoy serving God. Do you have specific talents or areas of interest that you are attracted to? Use those interests and talents to come up with 5 ways to serve God while doing something you enjoy.
Infinite Goals
There are many goals to choose from that will help you reach your destination. The bible is full of hints on what we should be doing to achieve a state of fulfillment and achieve spirituality. Here is a list of examples you could revolve your own personal goals around in order to start feeling more spiritually fulfilled.
- Scripture Reading
- Fasting
- Volunteering
- Loving Others
- Prayer
- Church Attendance
- Tithing
- Forgiveness
- Personal Conduct
If you’re only doing one or a few of these things well, that is completely and 100% okay. It is also okay if you haven’t been great at achieving any of these, but have the will to do better. This is why I say the Christian path is a journey and none of us are, or need to be, in the same place.
Activity
Choose a topic from the list of examples above and think of a way you could integrate a small level of activity several times a week, each day, or per month. For instance, let’s say you wanted to make a goal of reading scripture for an average of 20 minutes per day. This could be transformed into a goal of 140 minutes per week. Now feel free to fit in scripture reading anywhere in your schedule, even if it is very chaotic, to meet that weekly goal of 140 minutes. Read during your lunch break, a few minutes before work, or a little before bed time. If you do better with a daily routine, you could keep the goal of reading 20 minutes per day at the same time each day.
Some additional examples of activity could be:
- Spiritual fasting one day per week
- Volunteering one day per week or 5 times per month
- Perform one loving action for a friend or neighbor each day or 5 loving actions per week
- Pray or meditate 5 times per day or 60 minutes per week
- Go to church or spiritual study 6 times per month
- Increase tithing or donating to a cause by 1% every 2 months until a 10% goal is reached
Importance of Routines and Time Management
By integrating time bound and sensible routines, you begin to transform your goals from passive wishes to tangible actions. To say that you would like to begin volunteering is a great, and much needed, first step, but once you acknowledge what you want to do, be sure to follow it up with an action statement: “On Monday evenings from 5 PM until 7 PM, for 3 months during the summer, I am going to help the elderly on my block with lawn care. The power of detail is what turns your goal into a tangible reality that you can now understand and create action around. In that one statement of action, you have created a weekly routine, decided on a time in which you can schedule other things around, and have a measurable goal that has a beginning date and an end date. You are now empowered to achieve your goal.
Once the time period is up, it is then time to review your goal. Using the example of volunteering we used above, decide whether it was effective and how it could be improved. You may decide to build upon it, alter it, or change your goal completely. In the case of the “lawn care for the elderly” example, it is absolutely fine to realize after 3-months you didn’t feel fulfilled and, instead, formulate a new way to volunteer in your community.
Coaching
If keeping track of multiple goals seems kind of difficult and time consuming, there is a solution for this. Goal Success Coaching. As a goal success coach, I help Christians come up with effective solutions and goal strategies so they can focus more on achieving progress in their spiritual lives, wellness, health, or personal pursuits from a Christian perspective. By systematically tracking goals and achievements while providing priceless accountability, I help my Christian clients grow exponentially and experience success from a mind, body, and soul holistic-style approach. This helps my clients gain focus, clarity, and confidence with confidence being the key.
Be Confident
Never compare your spirituality with others and be absolutely kind to yourself. The only person you need to impress is yourself, because only you have lived your exact experiences. Your spirituality is ultimately and uniquely your own, as your path and destiny is yours alone. With that said, I wish you the greatest of blessings as you begin to form your spiritual goals, create routines that help you achieve them, and track your results to help you stay empowered and motivated. Cheers to your success! Stay blessed, friends.
Author: Jason L. Cook
Searchlight Organization - www.searchlightorganization.com
Copyright Date: 8/27/2020