If you think of each calendar year as a book with 365 pages to fill with adventures, opportunities, and growth, then we’re over halfway into our 2016 stories.
Rarely does an author start writing without some clue of where her story might lead. Some authors make detailed outlines of their soon-to-be books while others jot down only a few ideas before jumping in, but they all have some idea of the direction they’re writing in. And as the author of your 2016 story, you probably set a few goals for the year back in January. Maybe you resolved to get in shape. Maybe you committed to reading the entire Bible in one year. Maybe you decided to go back to school and pursue a new career. And if you’re like me, you set a million little goals and chose one word to focus on for the year.
So, how are your goals going?
First things first, don’t beat yourself up if you’re far from achieving your goals. Setting aside time to check-in on your resolutions isn’t about feeling guilty. It’s about grace and reminding ourselves to be intentional with the time we have left. We all need reminders and encouraging words when life gets hard.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself while evaluating your 2016 goals:
- How much progress have I made so far?
Only when you’re brutally honest with yourself can you strategize how to make the most of the rest of your year. And you just might find some goals aren’t as important to you as they were six months ago. Be willing to let some go to make room for bigger and better priorities. - Was my initial goal realistic?
As modern women, we’re all guilty of packing a daily to-do list full of tasks that would take any normal person weeks to accomplish. Look back over your overarching goals and break them into smaller ones you’ll be able to tackle every day. With daily perseverance, all those little steps will add up to visible, year-end progress. - Why do I want this?
If you’re no longer feeling motivated, it might be time to tweak the source of your motivation. If you set out to lose weight this year, then your dedication will fizzle out when you don’t see progress fast enough. Instead, find more personal ways to motivate yourself. Exercise because it gives you energy to play with your kids. Eat well because you want to take care of the body God gave you. Schedule medical exams because you want to maximize the time you have with your family.
- How does this goal fit into my life?
Are you making time and space in your life to achieve your goals? If you want to spend more time with God, set aside quiet time to pray and read your Bible without interruption. If you want to be healthier, pack your gym clothes the night before or fill up your cart in the produce aisle of the grocery store. Focus on building good habits that will help you reach your resolutions over a year’s time.
- How much do I want this?
It all comes down to this: If you want something badly enough, you’ll work hard for it. God doesn’t want us waiting passively. Remember the “Parable of the Talents” in Matthew 25:14-30? We must be willing to invest the resources God has given us to reap beautiful, bountiful blessings in our lives. And in the end, when we’ve reached our goals for the year, we’ll have bolstered our character along the way as we learned what faith looks like when paired with perseverance.
It’s never too late to start. While we might not have a blank canvas of a year before us, let’s not waste the time we’ve been given. Fortunately, there’s always another blank slate just around the corner in the form of a new week, a new day, or even just a new hour.
