Today I will:
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)
Motivational speaker and minister Bob Harrison has often said, "Setting goals can be one of the most dangerous things anyone ever does." Why is that? Because we often remember to set goals in business and finances but forget to set goals in more personal areas such as family, spiritual growth, health, and service to others.
Goals have a way of bringing focus in our lives to certain matters, and thus pull attention away from other areas of our lives deemed less important by omission. By having goals in only one or two areas of our lives, we inadvertently determine to fail in all others. Goals create focus and determine how we will allocate our resources, time, talent, and treasure.
When we set goals, we need to determine to look at all the areas of our lives and give them equal attention so that our focus is on what is truly important and not just on what will get us the greatest advancement in our careers or the most financial success. Just as Paul used the power of his focus to push ahead to accomplish what God called him to do, so should we whether that be in business, our church involvement, building our family's futures, maintaining our health, or building the character within ourselves to be able to handle greater responsibility tomorrow than we have today.