First things first, you need to come up with a strong and compelling “why” for your goals and dreams. It needs to be something significant and meaningful to you personally. You cannot set out to achieve your goals based on things like meeting someone else’s expectations for you or vague and unimportant reasons. It also needs to have a higher purpose and tie into something that offers Kingdom value. Your plans, goals, and dreams are put in you by the Lord, and should feed into things larger than yourself. Whether it’s serving others or advancing the Kingdom, there is a design behind what’s in your heart. Once you have your “why,” you can be intentional to making the most of it in the following ways:

1️⃣ It increases motivation. You’ll hear me talk a lot about how motivation is not something we need to rely on. It is fantastic when it shows up on your behalf, but when it doesn’t, you need something else to keep you going. Momentum is what keeps us moving forward on the days when we don’t feel like following through. Focusing on your “why” will not only help you to build that momentum, but it can also jump start your motivation when it may have grown a bit weary. When you have motivation and momentum on your side, you’ll be even more successful at reaching your goals. Motivation will be pulling you toward your goal like a magnet while momentum is pushing you forward at the same time!

2️⃣ It becomes a choice. When you lay out a specific intention for your goals and the “why” behind it, you have made a choice. When you make a choice, your brain actually does everything it can to preserve and protect that choice at all costs because it sees that choice as part of your identity. When we make a choice, our brain goes to work to find evidence that supports it, even if we made a poor choice and it is to our detriment! But in this case, you’re going to be making a good choice, and once you do that, your brain will start collecting evidence for all the reasons you should follow through. Remember that you selected your “why” and allow it to become part of your identity. You will have a much easier time acting in accordance with achieving that outcome.

3️⃣ It gives you a sense of control. Let’s face it, we cannot control everything that happens or be guaranteed an ideal set of circumstances. But we can set ourselves up with a sense of being able to control progress by anchoring ourselves to our goal with our “why.” So when things start getting chaotic, focus on your “why,” and take action where you can. This will help you feel more in control despite whatever seems to be coming against you. When you feel in control, you feel confident. Feeling confident means that you are bold about the pursuit of your goals and dreams!

4️⃣ It gives you focus. Let’s face it… We are so easily distracted. Even the most important of goals can get crowded out by the chaos of life. When you call to mind your “why,” you are able to stay focused on the prize as you run your race. It does not mean that your goal has to supersede everything (keeping the Lord first is what guarantees success), but it does help you keep it at the forefront of your mind which will allow you to think on it and act on it more often.

5️⃣ It gives you clarity of purpose. When you designate a goal and also give a reason for it, it allows you to put things in proper perspective of importance. You give priority to something when you have a clear reason for doing it. The more clear you get on things, the easier it is to take action, and the more action you take, the more likely you are to succeed!

If you need help with tackling your goals and dreams, you can see what coaching plans I offer here. Or, feel free to reach out to me via email!

Are you ready!? Let’s get growing!

| Kaci

Reader questions:
1/ Have you set a “why” for your big goals and dreams?
2/ If you have, have you written it out to keep somewhere you can see it?
3/ Which of these ideas do you find to be the most helpful?