I Was Stuck

Early in my ministry career, I was driven to do everything all the time. I was stuck in the mindset that everything I thought was something that needed to be done. And everything that someone else thought I needed to do... well that was something I needed to do to.

That was back in the day. You know, in the 90s.

Who am I kidding... I am still that way!

But something has helped me far more than I expected. For the last six years I've been part of a staff team that does goals and shares them with each other. Setting goals has helped me narrow my focus from doing everything all the time to doing the more important things with my best time.

This process has served me in more ways than I can even articulate. Maybe a glimpse into the way I walk through this annual exercise can help you--whether you are in full-time, part-time, or volunteer ministry. They could help in school years, retirement years, or any career.

One more thing you should know: because my pastor is brilliant he gives us great freedom to choose our own goals. He seems to believe that as long as we have alignment as a staff in the big picture, we can set our own priorities in each area of ministry.

Since I think better in structure, I decided to create some for my goal setting. I find it extremely helpful to think in three broad categories:

• Spiritual - To be more like Jesus
• Personal - To act more like Jesus
• Professional (church) - To help people walk with Jesus

Of course the boundaries between these categories are not fixed. The healthiest among us are the most integrated. So the goals I set spiritually affect my personal and professional life. Whether or not I thrive in my professional life impacts my personal and spiritual journey. And so on.

Over the years that (intentionally) first category has included things like:

• Take 4 prayer retreats in a year
• Focus on specific spiritual practices (prayer, confession, journaling, fasting, etc.)
• Read the entire Bible aloud

And some of the things that made the personal list were:

• Lose 50 pounds
• Write 2 articles for publication
• And one of my favorites -- meet with 6 guys a few years ahead of me, asking 3 questions. One of these questions is always about how to be a better husband or father. I've already written about that particular practice. You can read more about it here.

And within the professional realm:

• Create and host a worship conference
• Hold a Worship Ministry Summit with key leaders and a guest clinician
• Create and distribute a worship ministry handbook

It is impossible for me to describe how the growth in all three of those areas of my life in the last 6 years has outpaced the same in any previous season of my life. 

Now to be transparent, I seldom meet all of my goals. In fact, I usually only hit about 70% of them. But 70% of carefully thought through goals has gotten me much farther than 100% of not having goals.

I'm eager to see, what are some things that have helped you with goal setting?