If you are like me you have grown weary of resolutions. They never seem to work. From failed U.N. Resolutions that promise to bring peace to a country; to our own personal resolutions that we make each January they all seem to have one thing in common- they fail.
Well as we begin a new year let me encourage you to throw away your resolutions and instead make goals. You may be asking what the difference is? Well, I believe there is a significant, yet subtle difference. Let me explain.
By definition a resolution is "a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something." While a goal is: "the result or achievement toward which effort is directed." My point is this. Resolutions give us no wiggle room- they are firm- and therefore we can easily become defeated when the first sign of adversity hits. And who lives a life free of adversity? By definition a goal is more fluid. Goals give us more wiggle room to amend as the circumstances warrant. If I make a goal to lose fifteen pounds this year, but I break my leg in February and can't exercise for four months I have suffered a serious setback to my goal of losing fifteen pounds. However, because goals are more fluid and defined more by the circumstances in which we find ourselves I can amend my goal based on the fact that I have broken my leg. This leads to greater success in reaching our goals because they remain fluid and realistic throughout the year. It gives us greater confidence and helps us push ourselves in greater ways.
Another thing you need to do is write your goals down. It does not help much to wake up January 1st, contemplate your goals for the year, and then sit down for a day of college bowl games. You must write down what you want to accomplish in the year to come. I like to divide my goals into several categories- Spiritual, Marriage & Family, Financial, Ministry/Business, Personal Development and Physical Fitness. Once you have defined your goals, and written them down you need to keep them in a place of remembrance. I keep mine either to the left of my computer or in the first file of my file cabinet. This reminds me of my goals daily and allows me to amend them when the realities of my life change.
So this year, make a point to set realistic goals for 2011, write them down and keep them in a place where you can refer to them often. I wish you great success in achieving all of your goals for 2011!
F. Reeves Cannon, III. M.A., LPC, BCPCC
- Reeves Cannon
- Florence, SC, United States
- Reeves Cannon is a board certified Professional Counselor (LPC). He graduated with honors from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Counseling. Reeves received his undergraduate degree from Columbia International University in Youth Ministry. He is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) and a board certified Professional Christian counselor with the International Board of Christian Counselors (BCPCC). Reeves is a certified administrator of PREPARE-ENRICH, a pre-marital and marriage assessment tool for counselors and clergy. Prepare/Enrich is the most widely used premarital counseling tool in the United States today. Reeves also travels around the southeast as a seminar speaker for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. The subject of personality, relationships, and team building are the focus of those seminars. Reeves is the Director of Counseling at the church at Sandhurst in Florence, SC. The purpose of the counseling center is to provide Biblically centered professional counsel to individuals, couples and families in Florence and the surrounding area so that God may be glorified and lives transformed.