Setting GOD Goals

Whew! The online writing group I belong to is working hard at developing our mission statements and now our goal lists.

As I began to prayerfully write down my goals for 2008, it soon became apparent I had an overwhelming list of projects to finish. I had several first draft e-book manuscripts that were complete, needing to be edited, rewritten and marketed. I also have two first draft novels that are in varying stages of completion. Then there were the regular submissions I need to write - a monthly column for the 4Him2U E-zine, daily blogs and so forth.

When it was all down on paper, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. Lord, how can I get all this done in 2008? I thought. Of course when I start looking at things with my own eyes, they often look daunting . So I began to look for suggestions on goal planning and found an article on setting SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

I began to evaluate my goals. They seemed to meet the criteria so I immediately began to plan my daily schedule - an hour to write my blogs in the A.M., two hours to work on my novels and all afternoon to market the completed pieces along with the e-zine articles.

I figured if I worked a little on each one each day, maybe I could get it all done. Oh, yes, I almost forgot to include time for other things as well like grocery shopping, cleaning, chatting with friends, etc. As the list of activities grew, my schedule became even more unweildly. No wonder I felt so overwhelmed. I was trying to get everything done at the same time!

Thank God, He stopped my mad hamster-wheel planning session. As I prayed about my goals, He began to calm my heart and pointed out that by taking just one project on at a time, I could easily accomplish it all. Rather than allowing a little time each day for each project, I should prioritize them, spending larger blocks of time to complete one project at a time.

Where I'm in a hurry to get everything done NOW, He looks at the long-range and knows just when each thing needs to be done in His plan. Maybe I should call it my GOD Goal plan -

God
Ordained and
Directed Goals.

Now that sounds pretty SMART to me.