Changing Your Life

At the beginning of the year, many people adopt the “New Year, New Me” mindset and create resolutions they’re determined to stick with. Yet, more often than not, these resolutions are abandoned by the end of January. Why does this happen? Resolutions often lack depth, alignment with our purpose, and a clear plan for success.

This year, I challenge you to think bigger. Don’t just focus on resolutions—embrace a mission-driven approach to your life. Discovering and pursuing your life’s mission is more fulfilling than any short-term resolution. A mission isn’t about this year; it’s about your lifelong purpose. When we’re aligned with our mission, the work feels meaningful and energizing, not overbearing and difficult.

How to Discover Your Mission

Finding your mission starts with reflection. Consider your strengths and God-given gifts. Tools like online strength-finder and spiritual gifts tests can provide clarity. Here are a couple of resources you can explore:

• Strength Finders: Gallup Strengths Center
• Spiritual Gifts Survey: Church Growth Survey

Step 1: Define Your Mission

Your mission should leverage your strengths and gifts to contribute to something greater than yourself. Ask yourself:

• What do I want to accomplish in 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years?
• What is God calling me to do?

It might feel overwhelming or unrealistic at first, but trust that your mission is a nudge in the right direction.

Step 2: Gain Clarity

Once your mission is clear, it’s tempting to dive in immediately. However, without a plan, you’re likely to hit roadblocks. Planning bridges the gap between your mission and your goals.

Create a High-Level Plan

1. Break your mission into 5 year period milestone achievements (5, 10, 15, 20 years).  Where do you need to be at the end of the each 5 year period to achieve the mission?
2. Break the next 5 years into annual goals. For each year, ask: What must I accomplish this year to stay on track?
3. Divide annual goals into quarterly goals, then monthly goals (projects), and finally weekly tasks.

Keep It Simple

• Define your mission or purpose.
• Break it into yearly and quarterly goals.
• Further break quarterly goals into monthly projects.
• Turn monthly projects into weekly tasks.

Pro Tip: People with clear, written goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than those who don’t. (Source: Dominican University of California)

Step 3: Track Your Progress

If you can’t measure your progress, you can’t manage it. Tracking is essential for maintaining momentum. Choose a method that works for you, whether it’s a journal, an app, or a spreadsheet. Regularly review your progress to ensure you’re on track.

Step 4: Remember Your Why

Motivation naturally ebbs and flows. To keep moving forward, you need a strong “why.” Why is your mission important to you? This deeply personal answer will sustain you during challenging times and remind you that you’re on the right path.

Step 5: Celebrate Small Wins

Celebrating small victories is non-negotiable. Don’t wait until you’ve achieved your ultimate goal—acknowledge and celebrate progress along the way. These moments of joy fuel your journey and keep you motivated.

This year, trade in fleeting resolutions for mission-driven planning. By aligning with your purpose, gaining clarity, and tracking progress, you’ll create a life that’s not only productive but deeply fulfilling. Let’s make this year the start of something meaningful!

Are you are struggling about whether you should go for that big goal?

Getting out of your comfort zone is SCARY. You are moving into the unknown, but you are also fulfilling your purpose. Living a life of purpose means that you will not have regrets at the end. You will be able to say you went for it.

First step in making a big decision is to dig deep to understand your why? Why do you want to this? This is important because when things get hard this is what is going to keep you going.

Next, think about the truth. What things will hold you back? Are they true or a limiting belief? How can you knock down these barriers. If we continually tell ourselves lies, we will start to believe them. Find the truth. Remember your why.

Third, do your research. Don’t go into a big decision blindly. Understand what it will take to get there.

Finally, you have to have faith. Have the courage to pull the trigger. This is where we definitely get stuck. You have your why and it means something to you. You have done your research & know what roadblocks you might face, but know that you can get past them. It may to be easy to get passed them, but you are ready. Now it actually do it….

Take that scary step forward. You can do hard things. You can fulfill the purpose for your life if you just have the courage to go for it.

Be courageous!

Step 1:  Visualize

Take 10 minutes and allow yourself to dream no matter how big or scary.  Anything that pops in your head write it down.

What is something you always wanted to do?

What is something that you are interested in or passionate about that you’ve never dared pursue?

What would you do if nothing stood in your way?

What excites or motivates you to get out of bed?

What did you dream about doing before life got in the way?

Where would you like to see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

What does your dream life look life?

Step 2:  Focus

Rank each of your items from 1 – 10.  Narrow down your to options to your big 3.  (Must be at least 8’s)

Why does this excite me?   Why is it important to me?

Do I feel a flutter in my belly or tightening in my chest when I think of this?

Step 3: Commit

Write it down & say it out loud . This makes it real!

What will it take for you to commit to these things?  Reward, punishment, tracker, etc…

Post your goals where you see them daily.

What will make it real for you?

Step 4:  Execute

Rearrange your schedule and put your big goals first every single day.

Start doing whatever it takes to make your big goals a reality.

Get up earlier.

Take a class, get a certification.

Block out time for what you want to get one step closer to the finish line.

When you start to get out of your comfort zone, you move into the unknown. At least unknown for you. This means that it will get tough and you may fail or not go exactly as you wanted.

If you are “in the tough,” first you need to remember why you started in the first place. Getting back to your why and reflect on where you want to go. Then give your next step a quarter twist. Figure out what was working and what isn’t and keep on going.

Sometimes the tough is happening not by anything you are doing, but by getting negative response and feedback. You start to care more about what they think of you than your big dream. Recognize what you are doing. If they are true friends, they will support you if they understand why you are doing. Make it known to them.

If you are still struggling to find that ambition – here is some advice from Bob Goff:

Find ambitions that will positively impact the lives of others and get you fired up to pursue a few more ambitions for yourself. If you’re going to spend your time, talent, and treasure to get some of those dreams off the ground, isn’t it worth the investment of time and conviction to find the right ones?

I don’t want to be an advertisement for Jesus; I’d rather be proof.

How you spend your time is how you live your life.

This was a quote from a Bible study video session. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about, but it’s kinda deep.

How do you spend the hours in your day? We all have the same 24 hours each day. Let’s say you are at work for 9 hours + 8 hours sleep. That still leave 7 hours EVERY DAY!! Do you spend that time scrolling your phone on social media, binge watching tv, running your kids around, working out, ….. ?

Think about this past week. What did you do? Were you doing things that gave you joy or were you numbing your brain?

Think about your core values. Does your life reflect those values?

If faith is one of those values, did you spend time with God reading his word or doing a Bible study?

If family connections is one of those values. Did you spend meaningful time with them? Can you recall the conversations you had?

There are so many different values you can have. Ask the hard questions to reflect upon if you are truly spending your time where you should.

It’s easy to caught up in the day to day. After a long day at work, you want to just watch a cooking show with a glass of wine. (Or is this just me… ). It’s setting your intentions and following through with those intentions.

Here are some tricks that I use:

• Start your morning WITHOUT your phone. Use it for an alarm, but leave it on the charger until you are ready for work.
• Start the day with intention. How do you want to show up today? What might stress you out & how will you handle it?
• Make a plan for after work. When you get home before you walk in the door. Take a few seconds or minutes to reset your mind. Again how do you want to show up for your family?
• Doing a weekly reflection or even a daily reflection. What went well today? What could have been better (if you are an over thinker don’t spend too much time on this)? Did you follow your intention for the day? What are you grateful for that happened today or this week? Don’t fluff it…give yourself honest answers.

Availability usually means that you are engaged and engagement gives you a greater chance for success. This availability isn’t just focused on the tasks, but it’s also focused on the people around you. It also means being available to yourself to give yourself the rest time you need.

Start with these questions:

• How do you I really feel?
• Does God feel near?
• Am I working on the top priorities to achieve my goals?
• Do my choices and actions reflect my values?
• Am I allowing others into my life or pushing them away?
• Where am I spending my time & energy?

The choices and actions we make will define our legacy. How do you want to be remembered?

I love this section from the Dream Big book:

“A porter’s job is to get up early each day, walk down to the city gate, and greet people. Porters ask travelers this question: “What can I do to help you on your way?” Taking an interest in people means asking the same. If you want to make progress on your ambitions, ask other people about theirs. It was this kind of reverse economy Jesus spoke about often. It worked then, and it works now.”

Become their student, not their teacher.

Your goal isn’t efficiency; it’s presence.

It is easy to get caught up in the day to day to do list. You have your routine that you don’t even have to think about it. You could be sleep walking and no one would know the difference…. Ouch….did that hurt a little bit?

We wake up, do our morning routine, we do our jobs and have surface level conversations, maybe run your kids around in the evening, and then back to bed. You felt busy the entire day, but you can’t remember the conversations you had, the things you experienced, and the beauty you saw? If this sounds like your life today, this message is for you. You are sleepwalking through your life.

Did you Know?

According to Bob, “there are thirty-seven recorded miracles in the New Testament.

Instead of looking at just the miracles, but what was happening around the miracles. At the wedding, Mary leaned over to the host after he spoke to Jesus and whispered, “Do whatever he tells you.” This is my hope for you as you pursue your ambitions. Whether faith is important to you or not, whether you talk to Jesus all the time or almost never, I hope you will take the ideas in these pages about pursuing your ambitions and then do whatever God tells you to do with them.”

Your Challenge

Here is your challenge – “enter each day assuming there’s a thirty-eighth miracle waiting for you if you fully engage life and the people around you with love, honesty, and an unreasonable, almost annoying heap of expectation. What would happen in your life if you started doing the same?”

Dream Big & Progress Those Dreams

This next section is excerpts from the book:

If you want to make progress toward your ambitions, live in constant anticipation of what might happen next. Look constantly for opportunities to give your ambitions some lift, and when an opening comes along, be ready to do something about it. People who actively anticipate opportunities don’t just sit on the edge of the chair hoping. They stack books on the chair and stand on top of them looking for an opportunity. Try it. The view will be great.

If you want to press through the resistance you’re facing, you need to identify your own “tells” like a good poker player. To do this, you’ll need to do a little excavation and take some action to figure out what is keeping you stuck. You may have to break with some routines, identify some of the stress in your life, and get the tools you need to clarify your ambitions. I’m not suggesting you blow up your whole life. But doing something startling to shake yourself awake should definitely be on the table.

One lesson I’ve learned, though, is that sometimes the best way to make progress is by sitting still. It feels counterintuitive, but it’s true.

Any person I’ve ever known who’s chased and accomplished an ambition knew that some days were about gathering strength instead of exerting it. Make no mistake—it’s easy to confuse a lot of activity with a bunch of progress. Rest is wise; preparation is wisdom. Don’t think that taking care of yourself—lying down for the nap, lounging in the hammock, or sitting on the park bench—means you’re slacking. Stop reading the junk mail telling you this. You’re not a startup and you don’t sleep under your desk. You’re on a mission, but you’re not lazy when you rest. You’re plotting your next moves and giving yourself the strength and perspective needed to finish the course. The path to your ambitions is not one long race; it’s a series of wind sprints that eventually covers the distance of a marathon. There’s a reason sprinters don’t break world records in five-thousand-meter races. They stay focused and run their short race then rest before their next one.

The final big question, “What do you want?”

Hopefully you took the time to answer “Who are You?” & “Where Are You.” If not, go back to the last 2 blog posts and do those exercises.

You figured out what your core values are and did some self reflection to start and continue living out those values. The big dream that you have aligns with your values. What could wrong? (Insert laugh here)

Living out our dreams is not easy. You will be discouraged when it doesn’t go exactly as you hoped or someone made you feel like your dream was silly or didn’t matter. That’s why you have to understand “your why.” Why do you want to achieve that dream? Why does it matter so much to you? If it doesn’t matter, guess what? You probably should figure out something else.

Life is too short to keep going with dreams that don’t make sense anymore. Dreams are hard! It’s takes hard work, courage, discipline, and a deep down “why” that pushing you forward. Dreams can be different based on the season of your life. What mattered to you 10 years ago may not matter as much today. Assessing your goals is another good way to know that you are doing what God has in mind for you.

“Don’t pretend to be noble. Be real and it will be the most noble thing you’ll do all year. Trust me, heaven will be doing cartwheels if you will finally get real about what you really want.”

“Some of your ambitions are going to take time or a little creativity to figure out. Don’t quit on them. Wake up to new ways to get there, then do what it takes so you’re ready when your time comes.”

“If you’re in it for the long haul and want to live a life steeped in purpose, a better long-term approach is to figure out who you want to be and let that inform what you do. Don’t settle for what you’re simply able to do; figure out what you were made to do, then do lots of that.”

“Remember the passage in the Bible where the blind man called out to Jesus so he could be healed? Jesus’ friends tried to help out by telling the man to stop yelling, but the blind man just yelled even louder. Maybe you should do the same if people have been trying to get you to quiet down about your ambitions. Quit whispering them to yourself and, instead, start shouting them into the world. Jesus asked the blind guy the same question He asks all of us every day. “What do you want me to do for you?” The answer must have seemed pretty obvious to the blind guy. But just like God in the garden with Adam and Eve, I don’t think Jesus needed to hear the answer. He wanted to make sure the blind guy was clear on his ambitions and knew what he wanted more than anything else. He wants the same thing from you too.”

Now that you figured out the who you are, now it’s time to figure out where you are going. According to Bob Goff, “Instead of thinking geography, I want you to think biography. Figuring out where you really are is a big part of discovering who you really are right now.”

You know what your values are. What ambitions do you have that follow those values? When ambitions and values align your world seems to click into place.

What is your ambition in life? Get real about where you are vs where you want to be. You are setting your starting line. It takes brutal honesty with yourself to know what that starting line is. Big ambitions take time. Give yourself grace just as God gives you undeserved grace.

Getting to the finish line is not a sprint….it’s a marathon. Pace yourself with small steps. Reward yourself along the way. Allow the people around you to pick you up when you fall. Allow other people to help you. God puts those people in your life for a reason.

“We can’t get on the path toward our ambitions without figuring out where we are. What has felt like your resting place is now a starting line. If you have the honesty and guts for it, what you’ve been stuck in is what you’ll be freed from. Where you are today is simply the harbor from which your ship is about to sail. Cut loose the lines. The horizon is where you’re heading because it’s where your ambitions reside.” Bob Goff

The first of the big 3 questions we will dig deeper on is “Who are You?” This is the first important question because you have to figure out who you are before you can decide where you are going. Discovering who you are will help sort out what is worth your time and sacrifice to go get it. (aka the where question)

Having self awareness gives you massive power. Don’t overlook it or think that it isn’t for you. Spending time reflecting on your life keeps you focused on your values. Do you know what your core values are? If not, that’s the first step. What words do you want to be remembered by? How do you want someone to describe you? That’s your values.

Another reflection point is learning what core motivations are behind the actions you take. Reflecting on your motivations helps you understand if you are following your values. Based on your reflection you can know what actions do you need to change or keep doing. This requires asking yourself “Why did I do that?” Make a weekly routine or even daily routine of doing this. You will be amazed at the progress you can make with being intentional.

This time IS important. It needs to be uninterrupted with your phone put away and distractions gone. It doesn’t have to be long. Start with 5 minutes. Write down your thoughts. Do whatever it takes to make sure you are following your values.

“We can’t fix what we won’t take the time to understand. If you’re willing to make the trip under the surface, you’ll find some pretty great stuff there. Why settle for the surface-level version of yourself when you can go a little deeper and discover the core of who you really are?” Bob Goff

Take the time…right now… don’t wait….