The excitement of my Nana and Granddad visiting from Chicago for Christmas was more than this third-grade girl could take back in 1985. Toward the end of their stay, my Nana made fudge. I couldn’t resist that chocolatey, creamy confection. But the next day, I was sick as a dog. For decades, I equated my grandmother’s fudge with the flu – to the point where even looking at fudge made me a bit queasy.
Sometimes we wrongly link two things together and avoid the one because it reminds us of the other. For me, fudge led to the flu, ergo, avoid fudge. I have a distaste for goals for a similar reason.
I’ve had some bad experiences with goals.
Back in the day, there was no grace in my goal setting. After the birth of our youngest, I decided to lose all the baby weight at any cost. It was a difficult experience, but I wasn’t going to quit. Quitting was for sissies, and I wasn’t a sissy. Or a quitter. Later I decided that I never wanted to be that hard on myself again, so, for a time, I quit making goals altogether. (Isn’t it interesting that Achievers often operate from extremes?)
At other times, I’ve refused to make goals because I might not reach my stated objective… oh, the horror! Not reaching an established benchmark is failing, and Achievers do not fail. For the Achiever, those who depend more on self than on the God of amazing grace, it’s better to not make a goal than to make a goal and fail.
I’ve learned to avoid goal setting over the years.
For me, as the flu is to fudge, exhaustion and failure are to goals. And I’d prefer not to do that to myself. Goals bring to mind pushing, striving, and berating myself – you know, all the ways you want to start a new year. But I also know that I don’t want to stay the same, and that by setting goals, I am making forward progress toward growing, learning, and changing. So this year, I’ll set several goals, and I need to decide which type of goal-setter I’ll be.
There are three types of goal setters.
Dr. Daniel Wallace in his article Should Christians Set Goals?, outlines these options. I’ve been all three. Which category of these goal-setting camps do you fall in?
- The Non-Goal Setter: Non-Goal Setters follow their heart and emotions, but tend not to engage the mindfulness God gave them. A mantra for this camp is “Let go and let God,” relinquishing Non-Goal Setters from action and responsibility. They tend to believe that the Holy Spirit only works through spontaneous, in-the-moment promptings. This group believes that we should be led only by grace without any room for planning. However, God has a different view as outlined in Proverbs 6:10–11, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”
- The Rigid Goal Setter: Hell hath no fury like a goal-setter not accomplishing her goals. It doesn’t matter the cost, time, effort, fractured relationships, or dried-up soul, these goal setters believe that the goal is the ultimate and everything else is secondary. Rigid Goal Setters are heavy on brain-powered logic and analytics, but they tend to neglect their soul. However, God calls these folks arrogant as they make plans as if they are in charge (sounds like a classic Achiever) when they say, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money… As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13, 16)
But God (my two favorite words), offers a third option for goal setters.
3. The Plan-And-Submit Goal Setter: This group makes plans and then talks to God about them. In James 4:15, Jesus’ brother writes, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” So clearly, this group is making plans because they say “we will do this or that,” but they are bringing those plans back to God. It’s as if they’re saying, “Hey, if this is what God wants, we’ll do it.”
The bottom line is that goals are not the enemy, but the graceless heart with which we view them and seek to accomplish them is.
We ought not to be so anxious about life that we make rigid plans which are beyond our capacity to keep, nor should we be so lazy as to make no plans at all. – Dr. Daniel Wallace
Preach.
When I started this blog, I set several goals. I haven’t reached every monthly goal, but I believe that I’m making forward progress. I’ve set a few goals for this year and beyond. But the key for us is not just to set the goal, but to submit it to God, to ask Him what He wants for us, and to align what we desire with what He desires for us.
Achievers, I am slowly Going Rogue from believing that goals automatically equal exhaustion and failure. So however you feel about goals this year, consider a mindful, submissive approach. Goals don’t have to be your enemy or your master. And if you’re feeling extra brave, you don’t have to live a fudge-less life.
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