Thoughts About Life Goals
/I recently met with a group of men for breakfast where we discussed our current project, writing a list of 100 Life Goals. We learned it from author Mark Batterson, and some of us have developed and worked on our lists for more than ten years. Others are just getting started.
I left the breakfast meeting with three main thoughts: (1) These are incredibly smart and talented men and I’m blessed to have them as friends; (2) We heard smart, witty, and insightful lists from each guy … lists that represented their unique lives, calling, and ministry; and (3) One man’s impossible idea is something the guy sitting beside him can make happen.
Personal change almost always happens within a community where people support each other, practice what they’re learning, and keep each other accountable. For much of my adult life I wouldn’t have thought this to be true. My assumption was I could do it by myself. But because of men like these, I’ve seen the power of community lived out.
Not everyone likes goal setting. Some people are naturals and others aren’t. And I don’t think you need to set 100 life goals like me. But it’s a worthy endeavor, and I encourage you to give it a try.
One reason: goal setting eliminates cynicism. Cynicism seems smart, as in knowing the real story all the head-in-the-sand optimists ignore. But it is the lazy way to live. It’s easier to be against things that it is to be in favor of things, and you’re never held accountable for being wrong. Cynicism becomes self-fulfilling prophecy, a habit that infects our work and life. Setting big scary goals helps us avoid this.
Another reason: goal setting helps us filter the inconsequential out of our lives. Ryan Holiday wrote, “In order to think clearly, it is essential that each of us figures out how to filter out the inconsequential from the essential. It’s not enough to be inclined toward deep thought and sober analysis, a leader must create time and space for it.”
One more reason: Goal setting changes you. Jim Rohn said, “You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process you become someone worth becoming.” Setting goals is less about what you do than who you become. It’s making moves now based on what you want your life to look like ten or twenty years from now. And from Seth Godin: “If you want to get in shape, it’s not difficult. Spend an hour a day running or at the gym. Do that for six months or a year. That’s not the difficult part. The difficult part is becoming the kind of person who goes to the gym every day.” Set goals that push you toward the person you want to be.
I hope you’ll join us in this project; and I hope you’ll share your results. Here is a link to my current list of 100 Life Goals. Feel free to appropriate any of these as your own. I should add that I’ve rewritten it several times to reflect the changes that come with age and the different seasons of life.
* * * * *
PS: I intended to publish this last week, but I was delayed. Thursday, I traveled to Tyler, Texas, with Rabon and Craig, to play with Denver and the Mile High Orchestra (DMHO) in a concert at Green Acres Baptist Church. It’s always a tremendous rush to play with the big boys, to play big boy music, in big boy settings … and my mind will be buzzing for a week or two from pure energy.
But here’s the thing. When I wrote my first list of life goals, in 2009, I didn’t include anything about playing with a group like DMHO. It never occurred to me that it was possible. It was completely beyond my imagination. But - and it’s a long story which I’ll gladly tell you in person - I drafted behind my friends, pulled along by their goals and dreams. If you hang around with ambitious godly men, you’ll find yourself in places and situations you never dreamed of. I cannot wait to find out where this community takes us next.
“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
