Mid Year Review: How Are Your Goals Looking?

The year is breasting the halfway mark and it is about time to pause and take stock of the journey so far. New Year’s resolutions have earned a bad reputation due to high failure rates. To make one feel better, some folks have changed the terminology to Annual Goals. Whatever appellation it goes with, if one takes his eyes off the ball, year end will remain excuse season.

It is very easy to set goals, start on the journey, lose focus, abandon the journey, and wonder at the end of the year what went wrong. What you think consistently manifests. As a man thinketh, so is he. If a goal is off your radar, chances are its manifestation will not see the light of day.

For any goal you intend to see through to the finish line the Bible states in Habakkuk 2:2 –

“Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”

In simple terms, keep it in sight and in mind. Write it where you can see it every day. I learned this from Zig Ziglar if you want to lose weight, display an image of your target weight/size and place it where you see it every day. Have a picture of a model of your desired weight and size, and paste it by your bathroom mirror or somewhere you get to see every day.

The same principle works on other goals. Render your goals in pictures, or summarize in words, and display them where you see them every day. Out of sight is often out of mind. It is virtually impossible to accomplish a task you don’t even think about or have on your daily to-do list.

Now think back to January this year. Look at your plans for this year. How many people can remember their goals for this year? Look at some of the items that seem to have fallen by the wayside. When is the last time you thought about that goal, and articulated plans to accomplish them? How can you accomplish what you do not remember? What you think consistently manifests.

Success is not a random occurrence. It is a result of focused thought and sustained action in the direction of the goal. For this to happen, the goal has to be on the front burner in your mind. This is one of the reasons you need to have a few goals so that you can focus on them sufficiently rather than go chase a seven-point agenda.

Halfway through the year. how are you doing with your goals, if you manage to remember what they are? The best way to return them to the front burner is to go fish them out, and keep them in your face – first thing you see in the morning and last thing at night. If your desire is strong enough, other activities that take your time but bring you nowhere near your goals will have to give way. Endless hours in front of the TV watching movies or football etc, discussions and lamentations about Nigeria which leads nowhere, aimless browsing, visits to friends going nowhere fast, etc.

Having your goals in front of you helps you order your priorities and manage your time in such a way that will aid the attainment of your goal. You have sufficient time to accomplish the most important things in your life. All you need to do is stop wasting time on activities that add no value and spend it on things that matter. Your time is a tiny piece of your life.

Time spent is gone forever and never comes back. As the sun sets each day, a day is deducted from the balance of days left in the year, and the duration of your stay on this planet. As you cross the threshold of 40, you come to the realization that you will not live here forever. You have to make every day count. You have to make every hour count. You have to use time in your favor, by moving closer to your goals and dreams each day the sun sets, rather than against you by frittering it away on activities without long-term value. Time is not a renewable resource.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. Each step counts. Each step precedes the next step. Don’t fall into the trap of wondering why the year seems to run so fast, with precious little to show by way of your goals for this year. Dig out your goals, publish them where you can see them every day, think about them every day, and take the daily step that will get you well on your way on your very own journey of one thousand miles. You will get there. It is only a matter of time