The Bible tells us, "Where there is no vision, the people
perish." Without goals to strive for people languish in
indecision. With goals a person can quickly decide if an
action will help them reach their goals or not. Some goals
are simple such as relax and have fun while others are
aggressive such as earn Ph.D. by 32. Whatever your goals
are, they will give you direction to your life.
What is a goal?
- Something toward which to aim
- A target
- A specific purpose worth working towards
- A desired outcome that can be measured in
terms of progress toward an objective
- A statement of faith – how one hopes things
are going to be at some time in the future
Reasons for Goals
Goals give direction. Goals provide
targets for aiming. A wise man said, “You aim at nothing and
you’ll probably hit it.” Goals provide something toward
which to plan and work. A person with goals for his life has
direction. He will know where he is going, and he will know
the way.
Goals provide a standard for choosing activities.
Goals are ends toward which a person is working.
One chooses activities to be the means to reach the end, and
then the means becomes an end. This is an end-means
inversion, and it always spells trouble. By checking
activities against the established ends or goals, one can
avoid unnecessary activities or work.
Goals motivate. Goals held before
workers provide an incentive to work harder and longer. An
attendance goal for a high Sunday will produce extra effort.
A goal established to visit so many houses, or to jog so
many miles, can keep one going. Extra resources will
sometimes be called upon to accomplish a goal.
Goals provide mile posts. Goals are
based on objectives. You may never accomplish an objective,
but a goal is a bite-sized piece of an objective. A goal
serves as a mile post to indicate how far one has traveled.
Sometimes larger goals should be broken down into smaller
goals to make the mile posts easier to reach. This is more
than direction; it shows one has reached a mark or small
target.
Goals provide a measurement device for evaluation.
Evaluation is very important. It is the final step in
planning. When goals are written, then evaluation is
simplified. The goals say exactly where one wants to go and
when one wants to arrive. The evaluation process simply
finds out if you arrived at the destination as intended. It
is impossible to evaluate without goals or standards being
established.
