Episode 343
What makes a goal MEANINGFUL?
Today we're talking about what makes a goal truly meaningful and significant for Christian entrepreneurs.
From aligning with your personal values and faith, contributing to a larger mission, to providing a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction—these principles guide you in setting goals that not only challenge and push you but also reflect your purpose in life.
Join us as we explore practical steps and biblical wisdom, including the importance of prayer, self-assessment, and seeking counsel, to help you set and achieve goals that honor God and impact the world around you.
Tune in and start making meaningful strides in your entrepreneurial journey!
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Transcript
So yesterday, we talked about setting meaningful
Speaker:goals. How to set and achieve meaningful goals. Today, I wanna go a little
Speaker:deeper on what it is that makes a goal meaningful.
Speaker:Like, how can you set meaningful goals if you don't even know what it
Speaker:means to have meaningful goals? That's
Speaker:you can't do it if you don't know. So a meaningful goal
Speaker:is something that aligns with your personal values and
Speaker:beliefs. It contributes to a larger purpose
Speaker:or mission and it brings you a sense of
Speaker:fulfillment and satisfaction. So as
Speaker:Christian entrepreneurs, our personal values and beliefs, while they
Speaker:vary a little bit, they will align with God's word.
Speaker:In Proverbs 16:3, I believe it is, says commit to the Lord
Speaker:whatever you do and he will establish your plans.
Speaker:Some people use that to me to think that, oh, well,
Speaker:I don't have to plan anything. I don't have to set goals because God will
Speaker:establish my plans. But you have to have plans in
Speaker:order for them to be established. Right? So God
Speaker:allows us to create a plan within the parameters
Speaker:that he's given us. Our, we
Speaker:have to take into account our, like I said, values and beliefs, something
Speaker:that contributes to a larger purpose or mission, and brings us a sense of
Speaker:fulfillment and satisfaction. That sense of fulfillment and
Speaker:satisfaction only comes into play when it's things that
Speaker:are within our areas of interest, our
Speaker:skills, talents, gifts, abilities, our personality. It's
Speaker:things that align with those things. They have to
Speaker:align with who God created
Speaker:us to be. Here's a few characteristics of meaningful
Speaker:goals. They have to be aligned with your Christian values and need
Speaker:to reflect your faith and your principles and they have to help
Speaker:others in a way that honors God. Everything has to point
Speaker:back to him. The goal should be specific and
Speaker:clear. It needs to be well defined and easily understood. If
Speaker:somebody asks what your goal is and within 1 or 2 sentences
Speaker:you can't tell them in a way that they understand it,
Speaker:then it's not specific or clear enough. Okay.
Speaker:So instead of helping more people k. But what does that mean? It might
Speaker:be volunteer for 10 months down at the
Speaker:local whatever volunteer club or something for 10
Speaker:hours a month, I should say, not for 10 months. You could do that too.
Speaker:I have friends who have gone overseas for years years years years.
Speaker:That's you can volunteer for as long as you want. That's not where we're
Speaker:going. We're going with it needs to be specific and
Speaker:clear. Goals need to be challenging but
Speaker:yet achievable. So if I'm working out
Speaker:and I set a goal to be, you know, I need to push as
Speaker:much weight as I can. Okay. Well, what does that mean? Like,
Speaker:I can't set a goal to to lift a 100 pounds
Speaker:because that's not challenging. It's very achievable. If I
Speaker:wanna maximize my strength and utilize
Speaker:everything I've been created with and given and to even build that up
Speaker:further, I need to push myself to the edge of my
Speaker:limit. I need to push myself. If I can just bench
Speaker:press like a £170, I need to do that once or
Speaker:twice, then drop back down for some more reps. And then the
Speaker:next day, come back. Push a £170. You know, maybe I can go
Speaker:175. Maybe I'm a work on my way up to 200
Speaker:to 275 to 300. You know, you gotta push yourself
Speaker:and get go a little farther, a little just
Speaker:push yourself to the edge of your boundaries and your abilities.
Speaker:That's how you grow, and that's how goals should be. They also need to
Speaker:be realistic. I can't set a a goal.
Speaker:I couldn't I can set a goal to be able to bench press £220,
Speaker:but I can't set that goal to be done by next
Speaker:week. It has to be far enough in advance that I can actually
Speaker:achieve it. It's achievable, but I have to give myself a timeline
Speaker:within which to achieve it. Goals also need to be
Speaker:purpose driven. They need to contribute to your overall
Speaker:mission and purpose in life. Again, your
Speaker:purpose is simply using everything God created
Speaker:you to make a difference in the lives of other people. That's your interest,
Speaker:skills, talents, gifts, abilities, personality. All of those
Speaker:things. Using that to make a difference in the lives of other people.
Speaker:Now, your mission is gonna be a little different than that.
Speaker:You can select different missions based
Speaker:on those same parameters. 2 people might have the
Speaker:same interests. They might have the same gifts. They might have the same
Speaker:abilities. They might have the same skills. They might
Speaker:have the same everything, but they can choose different
Speaker:missions to complete or maybe even the
Speaker:same mission but going about it in different ways. 1 person,
Speaker:they both might wanna help entrepreneurs. 1 person might
Speaker:go visit people in person at their location
Speaker:and the other person might create content on TikTok to help them.
Speaker:So, 2 different, ways to complete the same
Speaker:mission. Next, goals need to be
Speaker:time bound. Okay, they need to have a deadline,
Speaker:not I want to do this someday. It's I want to do this. I will
Speaker:do this by this. So, completing this
Speaker:project within 6 months or, you know, being able to bench press 20,
Speaker:£220 within 3 months. Whatever that
Speaker:is for you has to be time bound. Now, how to
Speaker:know if the goal is meaningful? We can't always
Speaker:know. We can't always know that for
Speaker:sure. If is this goal meaningful? Is it going to make a real meaning and
Speaker:lasting difference? That's where prayer comes
Speaker:into play. You have to spend time talking with
Speaker:God. Jeremiah 2911 11 says, for I know the
Speaker:plans I have for you declares the Lord. He knows what
Speaker:we're capable of and if we collaborate
Speaker:with Him, if we talk with Him, He'll lead us down
Speaker:the right path. Down the path that fully
Speaker:uses what we've been given to reach the most people
Speaker:possible. That's the only way.
Speaker:You have to assess your values and passions. Figure out what it is that you
Speaker:love to do. Think about your interests, your
Speaker:strengths, the needs that you see in the world and that you
Speaker:feel called to address. Figure out what
Speaker:those are and that's going to give you some more insight into what
Speaker:those meaningful goals are for you. And then you also need to
Speaker:seek counsel. Talk to your trusted friends, your mentors, family
Speaker:members. Get their insights. Figure ask them to help you
Speaker:figure out what's the best place for
Speaker:you to fit in and to make, the biggest difference in
Speaker:the world. Again, Proverbs, I think it's 1522
Speaker:says, plans fail for lack of counsel,
Speaker:but with many advisors they succeed. So seek advice. Seek
Speaker:wisdom from others. Talk to people. Talk to God, most
Speaker:of all. But do all of these
Speaker:things and you will soon be learning
Speaker:you'll soon know how to set meaningful goals
Speaker:and what it is that makes a goal meaningful.
Speaker:And at that point, you'll feel more purposeful with your
Speaker:life. You'll feel like life has a purpose and that's a
Speaker:good feeling to have. Hey, I wanna invite you guys again.
Speaker:Join Next Level Personal Development for Christian Men
Speaker:on Facebook. It's a group. It's a small group at this point. I wanna grow
Speaker:it. I want you guys in it. Go join it. Click
Speaker:the link down in the show notes. Keep setting those
Speaker:meaningful goals, building a business and a
Speaker:life that reflects Christ to the world around
Speaker:you and makes a lasting difference. Do good
Speaker:work.
