Thursday Thoughts on Goal Setting

I know it’s a couple of weeks after the first of the year and if you made New Year’s resolutions you may even have broken them by now, but that’s not what this post is about. This post is about the fact that whatever your goals are….they change. Imagine your life in terms of a basketball game. When you are young you are in the first quarter of the game. When you are in your 20-30s you are in the second quarter. In your 40-50s third quarter. 60 plus, 4th quarter. Before you start arguing with me about how I decided on those numbers, just bear with me a minute.

Now ask yourself a question. What were your goals when you were in the first quarter of your life? 2nd, 3rd, 4th?  Unless you are very young, some of them may have changed.

I ran across a quote from  one of my favorite country music stars, Reba McEntire, that started my Thursday Thoughts about goal setting.

“My goals have changed throughout my life. At one time it was winning awards, selling out concert dates, selling more albums than anyone else. Now, my goals are to see my grandchildren grown, live a long and healthy life with my family and friends and travel the world.”

I could take that quote, change just a few words, and it would fit me exactly. How about you?

Reba’s hard work and talent paid off for her. She achieved her goals at a level most of us will never attain, but that’s okay. Most of us make peace with the fact that while we may not have achieved fame, fortune at Reba’s level, we did okay. Not everybody gets to be on stage…it takes a whole host of people to be the audience. Think about it this way, consider the stars (the heavenly ones.) Some of them are brighter than the others but they all have their own space and value. Just because they aren’t the biggest, nearest, brightest doesn’t mean that they are of lesser value, they just don’t get as much attention.

Priorities Matter

What I wanted when I was younger in terms of a career, success, etc. is not nearly as important to me now as faith, family and friends. I always knew those things were important and I never lost sight of that, but I have to admit that there were times in my life where I let other things get in the way.

Goal setting is important, extremely so.

The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.
                                                                                                                                                               BENJAMIN MAYS

Without goals we wouldn’t graduate

or get married…or anything else. We would all be sitting around in our pajamas watching television and eating potato chips.Yes, goal setting is important, but realizing that goals can and do change is important too.

Think about it.

What goals of yours have changed (if any) in your life?

Are there some goals that you want to change but haven’t ? If so, what’s keeping you from changing them?

What have you learned from the 3rd and 4th quarters of your life about goals that you didn’t know in the 1st or 2nd?

No matter what quarter of your life you are in it’s never too late to set goals. What are some new ones you have or old ones you want to spend more time on?