7 Reasons Your Goals Are Short Sighted

I do not argue that the timing of talking in March about setting goals is a little off. Anyone that sets annual goals likely did so in December. By now, they have either made great progress toward them or have given up on them altogether. Hopefully you are in the first group. Either way, very few have actually set eternal goals and that is what I want to discuss!

goals

In my last post, I talked about eternal goals and what they are. I also gave you a list of the most likely reasons why most people have never set them. I told you we would try to respond to those reasons, using some examples from my own 2015 goals in the process.

Let’s just take one reason at a time from the list and respond to it:

Reason #1 – I have never thought about it.

Okay, so this is probably the number one reason most people have never set eternal goals. It is a legitimate reason in that I don’t think I have ever heard of a book, webinar, or other learning tool that mentions setting eternal goals.

At the same time, since you have read my post you can no longer use this reason! Therefore, I will not spend a lot of time on this one.

Reason #2 – I don’t know how to set eternal goals.

Even if you have thought about setting eternal goals before, it is likely that your next thought was that you had no idea where to start. The funny thing is that you actually do know how to set them, but you don’t even realize it.

Setting an eternal goal is not really that different from setting a normal (shorter-term) goal. In fact, they often look exactly like normal goals, but there is an underlying eternal purpose to the goal.

For example, one of my 2015 goals is to triple the number of people subscribing to this blog. While this looks like a normal goal, the main point of this goal is not actually increasing subscribers. The point is that the more subscribers there are, the greater the opportunities for impact!

In setting this goal, here are the steps I took:

  • I determined my purpose: I want to help Christian business owners leverage their business for eternal return.
  • I decided how to achieve that purpose: I want to reach more business owners with continuously improving content.
  • I chose the most effective and simplest way to measure my path to that impact: I decided that increasing my subscriber count is the best measurement for my goal of eternal impact.
  • I established a stretch goal for this measurement: This part is the same as for a normal goal.
  • I put it in writing and enlisted accountability partners: I have shared my goals with my wife and a small group of peers that are pushing me hard!

Reason #3 – Eternal goals are too tough to measure.

As I showed you in my example above, I realize I cannot actually measure the eternal impact I am having with my blog. I can only tell you stories and point to actual events that we would all agree reflect eternal impact. The problem is physically measuring this impact.

If we are going to move past this problem, we must accept that measurement for these goals will not be perfect. Once we are willing to agree to this, the task becomes easier.

The next step is to focus on activities that will LEAD to the impact you desire. For me, increasing my subscriber count is not the perfect measurement. At the same time, the activities that are necessary for me to achieve this increase in subscriber count will certainly lead me to greater impact.

Remaining Reasons Next Time

I have run out of room for this post, but I will pick up where I left off next time. I hope you are seeing that eternal goals are not that difficult. In fact, I really hope you take a look at your current goals and see where you might be able to modify them for your own eternal impact! If you have not set goals for 2015, now is the time to start!

Which of these reasons have caused you not to set eternal goals?

Can you see some ways to modify your current goals for eternal impact?

What needs to be your next action?

Have You Set Your Eternal Goals?

I am sure your first thought is to ask why I am talking about goals when we are so far past the first of the year! Isn’t that a topic for January? Haven’t most people given up on their goals for the year already? You may also be asking what I mean by eternal goals. Good questions! Let’s see if we can answer them!

eternal goals

Goals In March?

First of all, I am talking about goals in March because some of you have already given up on your goals for the year. Maybe you have not completely given up on them, but you are likely getting into the messy middle in some of them. In others, you never got out of the starting blocks.

Whatever the case, we are going to talk about goals because you need to talk about them. If you are stuck, then this is the perfect time to jump back in with a renewed energy! I am hereby holding you accountable to those goals and encouraging you to get back in the game.

Eternal Goals?

At the same time, I want to know – how many of your goals for this year are eternal goals? To be more clear, how many of your goals for 2015 have an eternal consequence as the motivation for the goal? Still not tracking with me? Let me explain.

I am assuming you are in business and you have a strong desire to integrate your Christian faith into your business. That is great, but WHY do you desire that? Hopefully, you recognize that God is the true owner of your business or job and that you are simply a steward for a time.

Purpose Of Business

Sure, your business has the purpose of providing for your family’s food, shelter, clothing, education, etc. It can also provide for your enjoyment of this life God has given you, right? But that is not where it stops. He gave you this business for a bigger purpose. He wants a return on His investment (Matthew 25:14-30)

Hopefully, you want to bring Him an eternal return because you realize that He does not need a material or financial return. He already owns it all! Therefore, you know that the only way to bring God the return that He does not already possess is to impact other souls for eternity by pointing them to Him.

Goal Alignment?

If all of this makes sense to you, then how well are your 2015 goals aligned with this ultimate measure of your work here on earth? Which of your annual goals can also be labeled eternal goals? Which of your goals, if achieved, will have an eternal impact on those around you now and those to come after you are gone?

If some of your goals are easily categorized as eternal goals, then congratulations! You are certainly on track to have the eternal impact God has in mind for you. If not, please do not get frustrated or lose heart. You are not alone!

Reasons For Lack Of Eternal Goals

In fact, there are many reasons why many of us have not already set eternal goals. Below is a list of some of these reasons. See if any of these apply to you and your situation.

    1. I have never thought about it.
    2. I really don’t know how to set eternal goals.
    3. Eternal goals are too tough to measure.
    4. I can’t know for sure if I have hit them.
    5. These goals are not normal or cause abnormal behavior.
    6. Eternal goals conflict with my current goals.
    7. I cannot fully control the results of these goals.

What Will You Do About It?

I am sure you can think of additional reasons, but I think this list is a good start. So now that we know why we have not set eternal goals, what are we going to do about it? Surely we won’t just stop here and say, “Oh well. Maybe next year.” It’s not too late to take action, is it?

I am so glad you asked! In my next post, I will try to respond to the above list of reasons by using examples from my 2015 goals. I will walk you through my thought processes and see if you can gain some perspective that will help you set your own eternal goals!

Do you already set your own eternal goals every year?

What process do you go through to do this?

If you have never thought about eternal goals, what is your next step?

Is Your Life Like Your Closet?

I recently had to clean out my closet at home. After ten years without doing it, the accumulation of stuff and clothes that no longer fit had finally gotten out of hand. I finally recognized the need and set aside the time to clean it. In the process, I was reminded of a truth about life that all Christians need to learn. If you cannot see the connection between a clothes closet and a life truth, then read on!

closet

Organizing My Closet

Obviously, I first had to go through everything in my closet and determine whether I would keep it, give it away, or trash it. I went through work clothes, play clothes, socks, shoes, etc. I think you get the idea.

Once I did that, I figured I would take the opportunity to reorganize the entire closet. I know, that may be a little OCD, but I liked the idea and ran with it. I went to WalMart and bought a couple of cheap cloth baskets for socks, tshirts, etc. I placed these in line on my shelves.

I moved my work clothes to one side and put my casual clothes to the other side. I made sure my work shoes were easily accessed while the others were off to the side. My ties (fewer now because I got rid of those with stains or those too wide!) were placed on the tie rack in the corner and my belts moved to the other corner.

Each Had Its Place

When I was done, I stepped back in pride. I had found a nice, neat area for each type of clothing and accessory. While my closet may not win any HGTV awards for creativity or design, I had achieved what I had set out to do. I had compartmentalized the area and each part had its place.

As I stood there, I remembered the life truth I mentioned at the beginning of this post. If given the opportunity, many Christians will do the exact same thing with their faith as I did with my socks. Stick with me and I think you will see what I mean.

Separate Life Compartments

Too often, we as Christians compartmentalize our lives. We have time for our family. We allocate time for our work. We may prioritize some time with friends and/or hobbies. We also make sure we give time to our faith. Each area of our lives has its own time allotment.

Some of these areas overlap at times (friends and faith, family and hobbies, etc.), but for the most part they are each kept within their own compartment. This is especially true of our faith.

Maybe we have friends at church, but it is unlikely we are regularly and intentionally meeting with them to grow in our faith together. We don’t talk much about our faith with some of our other friends or family because they might get offended.

Faith And Workplace Separate?

We don’t allow our faith to enter our workplace for the same reason. Or it might be that we feel our faith will limit our ability to do business profitably. Surely God would not want that, right? Work is for Monday through Friday, family on Saturday, and we give God our Sundays. That is the way it has always been.

Unfortunately, the way it has always been is wrong. God does not want our Sundays (only). He wants our Mondays through Saturdays as well. He wants our time with family and our time with friends.

God Wants Our ALL!

God wants to be a part of our hobbies and our social lives. He wants to live in our workplace and direct our business decisions. There is not a single part of our lives that God does not want. He wants it all. Want proof?

Let’s just ask Jesus. He should know the answer, right? Jesus, what is the most important truth for us to remember in life?

Love the Lord your God with ALL of your heart, with ALL of your mind, and with ALL of your soul. This is the first and greatest commandment (emphasis mine).
Matthew 22:37-38

God IS Our Closet

Folks, we may need to compartmentalize our closets, garages, or work desk. Separate areas for separate items can be helpful for an organized mind. However, this is not true for our lives when it comes to our faith and our relationship with God.

In life, our faith in and relationship with God IS our closet. It IS our life. Everything else can have its separate place WITHIN our faith, but nothing we have or do should be separate from this faith. Our relationship with God permeates every aspect of our lives.

There is no other way to live out the Greatest Commandment.

What About Your Business Life?

Take a look at your business or work life. Reflect on how God is a part of this area of your life. If He is, what can you do to allow Him to be more involved. If He has not yet been allowed into this part of your life, then pray about how you can turn it over to Him.

The ultimate goal is for Him to fully control this area (along with all other areas) of your life, with you as the passenger and Him as the driver. That is a tough position to reach, but the more you prepare for it, the easier it becomes.

Is your life compartmentalized like your closet?

If you changed it at one time, has it drifted back?

What action do you need to take next?

What I Learned From My Reader Survey

Last month, I completed my very first Reader Survey. I have been writing this blog for 3.5 years now and I am ready to take it up a level. In order to do this, I felt it was critical to get your feedback about what you like best, what could improve, and any other ideas that might come from a survey.

survey

Reader Survey Results

I had 71 responses overall. This represents just over 15% of the number of email subscribers currently receiving my posts. My goal was to exceed 20%, but I think 15% was acceptable for a first effort. I know I got enough consistent feedback to give me the direction I need moving forward.

I have heard from the results that some of you are interested in the results, so I thought I would summarize them in this post. First I will give you a profile of the typical reader. Then I will tell you the five conclusions I reached based on the comments and suggestions offered.

Reader Profile

Let’s start with the profile:

  • My typical reader is male (72%) and falls between the ages of 45 to 64 (also 72%).
  • He is a business owner, entrepreneur, or a leader/employee in a business (65%).
  • He lives in the U.S. (86%) and his household income is over $75,000 (62%).
  • He has been integrating his faith and his work for years (64%).
  • His favorite topics have been Personal Growth (63%), Leadership (59%), and Business Practices (51%).
  • He has recommended my blog to others (58%).
  • He is most active on LinkedIn (86%) and Facebook (71%).
  • He prefers to read my blog via email (57%).

Since this is my first survey, I will be interested to watch how these demographics change over time. I will keep you updated as I complete future surveys.

My Conclusions

Now, let me share what I have learned from this survey. While I took lots of notes and learned more than this, I will share the main 5 lessons I gleaned from your feedback. The following five conclusions stood out above the rest.

1. Keep focusing on application!

    I heard loud and clear that you like that I most often focus on content that is easily applied to what you do. Like me, I understand that you are interested in reading about topics that you can take and apply to your own situation. This is cool to me because this was my number one goal from the beginning! I will commit to maintaining this focus.

2. Keep it real!

    I am so thankful that the way I write seems to resonate with you. I am not fancy or scholarly. I simply write the way I think – real, honest, and to the point. Your feedback told me to keep it this way. Evidently, most of you are as busy as I am and don’t have time for eloquent, fluffy posts about theory. Good thing – I can’t write any other way!

3. Keep the mix as/is!

    Your two favorite topics are also my top two most-frequent categories as well (Personal Growth & Leadership). For the most part, my mix of topics matches very well with your preferences. Since this mix has not been something I consciously determine, I will continue taking my own advice (and yours): I will continue to let God lead the content!

4. Keep it short(er)!

    Another clear message from the survey results – you prefer posts that are short and to the point. You do not have time to read lengthy posts. In fact, there were a few that would like to see my posts a little shorter. My focus going forward will be to work harder to keep the length down without sacrificing the message. When it makes sense, I will break a longer post into two or three to help with this.

5. Add some variety!

    I received many good ideas about what I could add to the blog to make it more useful to you. These ideas included doing more book reviews and adding video content. There was also the idea of taking time to go through Proverbs and apply it to business. I love the ideas and have already started working on some of them. Give me some time, but you will see some of these implemented in the not-too-distant future.

Thank You!

Overall, this survey was a great experience for me. I have received many new ideas from your comments and suggestions. I promise to take your feedback to heart and I hope you will see the benefits moving forward. Thank you for taking the time to give me your thoughts. I am grateful!

Obedience Can Be Bad For You!

When my children were not yet adolescents, I struggled to teach them about our fourth quality of godly leaders. Before you think I am some super-dad that started them that young on this kind of teaching, think again. I wish I was that good! Sure, I was trying to teach them about radical, immediate obedience, but not necessarily in the context of godly leadership.

obedience

Obedience Needed

Picture our family, my wife and I and our three kids (all under 10 years old), trying to cross the road to head into church on a Sunday morning. My son notices a friend across the street and breaks into a run to go talk with them. At the same time, a truck is 30 feet away and heading quickly toward him. Got the picture?

Now, as a responsible and protective dad, I yell out for my son to stop running.

Kinds Of Obedience

What happens if he obeys, but not immediately? Maybe he takes another couple of steps toward his friend. Now walking, he turns his head back toward me to see if I am serious. What happens to him?

What if he obeys by stopping, but he waits and stops in the middle of the street. He then turns to question me about why he should have to stop. What happens then?

I think you get the idea. If my son does anything other than radically and immediately obeying my command, then his life is endangered. This very same idea applies to our discussion on godly leadership.

Underlying Truths

See, there are truths underlying my instructions to my son. One truth is that blindly running out into a street can put him in the path of an oncoming vehicle. Another truth is that there are cars on the road with drivers that are not alert or expecting kids to run into the street. There is also a truth that says a 10 year old is not like to survive a collision with a moving truck.

These are not arguable truths. They are absolute. They are also truths that I understand as a parent, but truths that my son may not fully comprehend at 10 years old. As a result, he and I must have an understanding that he will radically and immediately obey me when I yell to him.

He must understand that partial obedience is not acceptable. Delayed obedience does not work either. He cannot choose to be selective and obey only when my instructions match up with his desires. No, a radical and immediate obedience is the only way I can truly protect him in this situation. These other kinds of obedience are bad for him!

Radical, Immediate Obedience

In his segment in Dennis Rainey’s Stepping Up Video Series, Dr. Crawford Loritts detailed his four qualities of godly leaders. I have covered the first three of these qualities in previous posts. Today, in case you have not been paying attention, I want to continue discussing the fourth quality – radical, immediate obedience.

I think you understand the application of this kind of obedience in the context of my family above. It applies the same way in our efforts to be godly leaders, only on a bigger scale.

The parallel is that God knows truths that we simply do not yet grasp. He understands things about our world and our own minds that we don’t comprehend. Based on these truths, he lays out guidelines and boundaries for us as godly leaders. He expects radical, immediate obedience to these guidelines.

Obedience For Leaders

God does not ask for this type obedience because He is ruthless. He asks for this obedience because that is what is best for us. He loves us and wants us to live life to the fullest. Partial, delayed, or selective obedience will limit (or even destroy) this opportunity for us. But the picture is actually even worse than that!

The picture is worse because you and I are leading others!

Go back to the image of my son running into the street. It would be horrible to see him hit by the truck. It would be worse if my twin daughters, two years younger than him, were following his lead. Disaster!

The same is true of us and our leadership. We can lead others into life or disaster (even death), depending on how we respond to God’s truths. Which are you going to choose?

Truths Worth Dying For

I will close with a quote from Dr. Loritts regarding this truth:

If you are called to lead, there is a sacred assignment that God has given you. And there is truth that you need to steward. And that truth is not arbitrary. I’s not a bunch of opinions and traditions. These are truths that are worth dying for. […] And that’s what we need to be called back to.
Dr. Crawford Loritts

Do you recognize that God knows truths beyond your understanding?

Is your obedience typically radical and immediate?

Where do you need to alter your obedience from being partial, delayed, or selective?

What Superman And Godly Leaders Have In Common

When I think about the third quality of godly leaders, the image of Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent (in the 1978 movie, Superman) comes to my mind. If you saw the movie, you will probably follow my line of thinking. See if my thinking makes sense to you.

godly leaders

Qualities Of Godly Leaders

In my last two posts, I introduced you to Dr. Crawford Loritts and his 4 little known qualities of godly leaders. Dr. Loritts cited these qualities in his segment in Dennis Rainey’s Stepping Up Video Series.

In the first post, we tackled the first quality – brokenness. In the next post, we discussed the second quality – uncommon communion. Today, we will talk about his third quality – servanthood as an identity – and how it relates to Superman!

Superman vs. Clark Kent

Let’s start with Superman and his cover identity, Clark Kent. Kent was really Superman, but did not want anyone to know it. He attempted to develop this “identity” as a bumbling newspaper reporter so that no one would catch on to his real identity as that of Superman. For all of us watching the movie, he was not very convincing. We could not understand why people didn’t catch on (a tribute to Reeve’s acting ability!).

Lois Lane, his coworker, eventually figured out he was faking the clumsy act, but many others were still clueless.

So what does this have to do with qualities of godly leaders? Everything!

Servanthood, As An Identity

In his description of servanthood as the third quality of godly leaders, Dr. Loritts made sure to emphasize the fact that this quality has to be a part of the leader’s identity. He said, “Written into the hearts of great leaders is a love and a care for the people they serve and lead…Its part of who they are, part of their identity.”

He went on to say how critical it is for this idea of servanthood to actually be a part of the godly leaders’ identity, not just something they do for show. That is when Clark Kent popped into my mind.

Just An Act

As I watched Reeve as Kent in the movie, I loved his body language and facial expressions. He was masterful in his portrayal of Kent. Unfortunately, I don’t see his act playing out in real life. No matter how good he was at the act, it was clearly not who he actually was. The real identity showed itself when the pressure was on.

The same is true for those of us striving to be godly leaders. If we want to be the real deal, then servanthood cannot be an act for us. We cannot just say we love those we are leading and serving.

We actually have to love them!

The Truth Will Show

Anything else will eventually show through. Our real identity will come out. This will most likely happen when the pressure on us increases. Choices will present themselves and our real identity will choose. If we have just been acting like we love those we lead, then our choices will reflect who or what we really love.

Jesus was not acting when he washed the feet of the disciples. He was showing His true love for them. Don’t believe me, then just look at the cross. He proved it there.

We likely won’t be tested with a cross, but know this – we will be tested. And know that when we are tested, our true identity will show. When this happens, whether we are even aware of it or not, others will take note. They will see the acting for what it is and they will no longer follow.

Pray For Help!

Folks, if we are serious about being godly leaders, then we simply must ask God to love those we lead and to do it through us. We must sincerely seek to love them as He does. We must determine to serve them as a way to convey this love to them.

If, instead, you attempt to “act” your way through it, your audience will know it. They will wonder how anyone could fall for it!

On a scale of one to ten, where is your love for those you serve and lead?

If your rating is low, are you aware that people around you already know it?

What is God leading you to do differently?