What are your long-term goals and dreams? That’s a tough question to answer for many of us, but it’s an important one to ask. Why are long-term goals and dreams so important? Well, as the recently departed Yogi Berra is credited with saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else.” Another way of looking at it is in the way Lewis Carroll said it:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, all roads will take you there.”
You’re Long-Term Goals Are Beacons to Guide You
Take the time to consider your long-term goals from all sides so you have a clear understanding of what the beacon looks like and to know the roads you’ve chosen will get you there. Photo Credit: Diana Mehrez via Compfight cc
What are you working for? What’s the end result? A long-term goal is that clear picture you see when you finally get the lens of your camera or microscope to focus. It’s the flag you capture in camp. It’s the date you have circled on your calendar. They are meaningful and impactful – so they provide the motivation for you to get out of bed every day.
Spend some time thinking about what you want in your career, family, and life in general. It would also be worthwhile to consider your long-term goals for service to others and your relationship with God. These should not be goals you want to achieve next week or month. Not even next year. Think beyond 2016.
Once you’ve honed in on a few, get a clear picture of what they look like. If it helps, find some images on the Web or pictures in magazines that represents each one. Put them somewhere so they can be referenced and in clear view from time-to-time. These images will become the beacons to guide you.
Long-Term Goals from Nehemiah’s Perspective
Let’s consider a very small sliver from the book of Nehemiah for a moment. As you might recall, Nehemiah was intensely focused on the restoration of religious practices and seeing his people together as a holy community. An understanding that it was God’s goal was the fuel to his persistence. This meant more than building a wall and gates.
Most of us would have satisfied by the completion of the wall and gates and considered our responsibility complete. That was not the case for Nehemiah though. It wasn’t the beacon to which he was guided. The long-term goal was much more.
Nehemiah became aware of four evils (Neh. 13:4-5, 10-11, 15, 23-24) that were keeping the long-term goal or vision from being clearly realized. Those evils were preventing the Jews from being a separate and holy people. More than 12 years following Nehemiah’s work (Neh. 2:1 and 13:6) he was still pursuing God’s goal of holy community (Neh. 13:30-31).
With Long-Term Goals in Mind GO BACK to Step One
So where are you going and are the winds you planned for 2016 capable of sailing you in the right directions for getting you there? In step two, you started looking ahead to 2016. Those are your short-term goals. But now, with your new found long-term goals in better focus, let’s start back at step one and briefly consider the year that’s about to conclude.
Are there events and/or lessons (from step one) you might have overlooked that could be useful in helping you revise or refine your goals in step two? Are there goals you set in step two that really provide no momentum to any of the long-term goals you have planned? If so, you have some hard decisions to make.
If you don’t see any changes that need to be made in steps one or two based upon your clearer view of the long-term road you are on, there’s a good chance you haven’t challenged yourself enough or you haven’t defined your long-term goals well enough. You should be able to know what success looks like and what it does not look like (just like Nehemiah knew the completion of the wall/gates was not the end goal). You should know when the roads are leading you off course and when they are going the right direction.