I believe 3 things about you and about me:

1. We want our lives to count for God, so we want to effectively use our limited resources.
   
2. We want to grow, and we grow as we take responsibility to define our goals.
   
3. When we define our goals, we clarify how we want to make our lives count for God and, consequently, how we can more effectively use our limited resources.

Bottom line: Defining our goals is pivotal. We both know this. We know this because we know how well we function when we operate with defined goals instead of with ambiguous goals or with no goals at all.

Key question: If defining goals is pivotal, why doesn’t everyone consistently define their goals? Because there are obstacles that block people from defining their goals. Here are 3 that may be blocking you from defining your goals:

1. An already busy schedule, and defining goals takes time
   
2. Not knowing how to define goals effectively
   
3. Previously defining goals, but not getting better results

Let’s assume these 3 obstacles are blocking you from defining your goals. Now, imagine having overcome these 3 obstacles. Imagine:

(1) Imagine spending 15 minutes each week defining and/or refining your goals.

(2) Imagine having answered questions like:

• What 3 changes would honor God?
  
• What 3 things is God calling you to be?
  
• What 3 dreams do you want to make real?
  
• What 3 things does it take to achieve your mission?

(3) Imagine having listed 1 or more goals for each of the following 10 categories:

1. Relationships
   
2. Environment
   
3. Spiritual/church
   
4. Leadership
   
5. Work
   
6. Finances
   
7. Health/fitness
   
8. Life balance
   
9. Recreation
   
10. Other

(4) Imagine having SMARTened up your goals. Meaning, you’ve made your goals:

• Specific: What do you mean by ___?
  
• Measurable: How will you know when you’ve achieved your goal?
  
• Attainable: How doable is this?
  
• Relevant: How will this goal help you live for God or achieve your God-given mission?
  
• Timebound: When will you do this?

(5) Imagine working with a coach for 30 minutes each week. A coach who believes in you. A coach who listens to you and asks you questions. A coach who encourages you, empowers you take responsibility to define your goals, and provides you with the support and accountability you need to achieve your goals.

Imagine these 5 things happening, resulting in you having defined goals. If these 5 things happened, resulting in you having defined goals, how would that help you live for God and use your limited resources effectively?

You can make each of these 5 things happen, and you can define your goals. You. Not me. Not your friend. You. So, what are you going to do? What are you going to do to define your goals? And what are you going to do to empower someone to define his/her goals?

Get a coach, be a coach, or both. Today.

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When you coach, empower people to define their goals for each session.

• At the start of each coaching session, get your client to verbalize 1 or more attainable session goals.
  
• Ask questions like “What’s your goal for today?” and “What would you like to accomplish in our X-minute session?”
  
• To help your client SMARTen up his/her goals, use clarifying questions (What do you mean by…?) and restatement (So, your goal for today is…).