Goal Setting

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At the beginning of the year 2015, one of the goals I had written was to be a research associate/member of a body/institute where I could apply myself as a researcher/trainer asides my day job. When I wrote this down, I had only a vague idea what type of research institute I was looking to plug myself into (this was a 5-year plan by the way). A few weeks after the year kicked off, I got an email from one of my mentors inviting me to join a research body that he had started years back. The first major training event was to take place and he wanted me as one of the resource persons. Oh wow!!!

The thing is at this time, I had just had a baby and I really wasn't up for the rigors of traveling because the research center was outside my city. So this was way outside my comfort zone and I was really going to decline the offer even though it was all expense paid. I shared with my DH and he reminded me of the goal I had written down earlier in the year. Even though it was a 5 -year plan, it appeared that God was doing some fast forward work on that. So off I went to the workshop, armed with my baby (she was still breastfeeding) and my mom to help out (very sweet woman). That experience turned out to be so beautiful and pivotal to some of my career decisions that year.
What's the point of this epistle you might ask? I just want you to take the opportunity this season to write down your goals and remember that the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory. Goals are usually not just a wishlist but statements with timelines attached about what you what to achieve during a given time frame. This differentiates goals from dreams. It could happen way sooner or later than what you wrote but it definitely conditions your mind and helps you see opportunities when they come. If I hadn't written down my goals, I wouldn't have taken that opportunity as i would have thought it a distraction to my work and family since it was going to mean being away from home for a whole week. 

It is important to write down your goals and not have them in your head.  It is easier to let go of/ forget goals that are not clearly written. What this does is that it helps you think the goal through, considering all you have to do to make it a reality. If it is a goal beyond your control, for example, getting healed of a sickness, writing it down makes it a statement of faith. As you set new goals this year, I hope they come true for you as you do the work required to achieve them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Picture credit: technori.com


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