7 minute read
By Bethany Rees

No longer do we create those New Year’s resolutions by themselves. Nope. These days creating a “word of the year” and developing SMART goals are all the rage. 

When you set a SMART goal, you make sure your goal is: 

S - Specific

M - Measurable 

A - Attainable

R - Relevant

T - Time-bound

Don’t get me wrong, I love having a focus word(s) (e.g. mine is “pray first”). 

And I love setting SMART goals (e.g. My health SMART goal is “I will lose 40 pounds by May 31st”). 

BUT, when I go too fast in declaring a word or setting a goal…the word and the goal may not be the RIGHT one for me right now. They could be the ones I wanted and not the ones God is calling me to. 

In last week’s blog (here), we learned about going SLOW first because 

SLOW is SMOOTH, and SMOOTH is FAST.

So this week, let’s learn how to START off right with prayer so we can be SMART in our word or goal setting. 

PRO TIP:

And don’t be legalistic with your resolutions, words, or goals. 

There’s no magic behind starting a goal on January 1. So refine the goal you already set, or if you haven’t set one…start your goal on January 16 or February 3, or whenever. 

START with Prayer

S - Symptoms 

T -  True aim 

A - Assess 

R - Retain, Remove, Resolve 

T - Tackle

The S = Symptoms 

By definition, symptoms are considered a feature that indicates a condition, and usually a condition of disease. 

What symptoms are you experiencing that have you feeling the most pain, angst, or disappointment? 

To really notice the symptoms, requires prayer and true reflection. 

Too often we feel symptoms along the way but we rarely stop to think…”What is this symptom really telling me?”. 

Now I’m going to generalize here for simplicity, but how many times do we dismiss a symptom because we’re too busy to pay attention to it? How many times do we dismiss the symptom because we’ve fooled ourselves into believing that those symptoms are normal?

So before you go setting your word or SMART goal…take time to reflect on and ask God to show you what symptoms you’re feeling. 

T =  True Aim 

Next to START off right with prayer before setting a SMART goal, you need to reflect on what your TRUE AIM is. 

Your true aim is your why behind your what. It’s what you really want. 

Too often we stay in the shallow end of our true aim pool. 

We say things like I want to be rich, when what we really want is security. 

We say we want popularity, when what we really want is acceptance for who we are. 

We say we want to be skinny, but what we really want is confidence in our own skin. 

So what is your real purpose and mission in life, faith, relationships, health, learning, and career?

What do you really want?

Ask God to help you answer the question, “what do I really want?”.

A =  Assess 

Assess what the root causes of those symptoms are and how they are showing you the true gaps you have between where you are now and your true aim. 

For personal symptoms, most people don’t ever come to the realization that the root causes of so many symptoms they have are born out of:

1. a lack of identity of knowing who they are or a lack of purpose in knowing why they exist
2. a mindset that has them locked in a victim or fixed mentality, where they feel they have no power to make change 
3. out of deep emotional trauma like rejection, abuse, shame, fear, or other wounds

For professional symptoms, my guess is the big picture root cause has something to do with a lack of:

1. a positive work culture
2. a lack of communication 
3. a lack of clear and simple systems and processes (structure)

The root cause of most chaos and a lack of progress in any organization is a lack of structure and communication. 

But my point here is this…without assessing the root cause and knowing the source of the symptoms, there will be no progress in overcoming the gaps that are keeping you from achieving your true aim.

What are the root causes of your symptoms?

Ask God to reveal to you the root causes of your symptoms.  

R =  Retain, Remove, Resolve

The “R” in START is more like a Spanish rolling R: Retain, Remove and Resolve. 

Once you have reflected on the symptoms you are feeling, know without a doubt what your true aim is, and have done the work to assess the root causes and gaps...now you can do the work to define a strategy in moving forward. 

And while most people at this point love to wipe the slate clean and come up with a new and innovative strategy to solve all of their problems and reach all of their goals…starting from scratch comes at a great cost and sacrifice. 

Just like all the home improvement shows you see on TV, rarely do they start from scratch due to cost.

They are always making decisions on what they can keep and repurpose or what they need to remove. Then they become resolved to do the best they can with what they have to stay within their budget. 

What do you need to retain (keep)?

What do you need to remove?

What do you need to resolve to believe/do?

Ask God for wisdom in knowing what to retain and remove from your life, so you can have resolve on the strategy moving forward. 

T =  Tackle 

Get ready to Tackle a goal…a SMART goal.

Have you ever watched a football player before they tackle an opponent? 

Not only do they get their body into position where their potential energy is wound up very high and ready to explode, but they get their mind in position to decide on the angle of the tackle before making the explosion towards their opponent. 

Football players that don’t prepare their body with the right stance, or don’t prepare their mind in knowing the right angle to launch their body…they will miss their tackles.

To tackle your goals appropriately, prepare your body and mind to tackle the goal with the right amount of energy and from the right angle. 

How can I prepare my body to achieve my goals?

How can I prepare my mind (and faith) to achieve my goals?

So ask God to help you prepare physically and mentally to be able to tackle your SMART goal. 

By first taking time to reflect and pray on the Symptoms and your True Aim, God will help you in Assessing the root causes or gaps, work to Retain, Remove, Resolve within your strategy and, then get in the right stance to Tackle a goal…a SMART goal. 

While I hope you picked up on it, let me be blunt…In all of this reflection about yourself, my number one tip through START is to PRAY and ask God for clarity. 

Ask God! 

And I’ll be praying for you too!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. S.T.A.R.T. with Prayer

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

~Luke 14:28

Theme Song: 

Jeremy Camp - Getting Started (Lyrics)

References Used:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.