My seven year old once told me, “I know what a New Year’s Resolution is…it’s when you make a wish on New Year’s Eve.”  I simply smiled because I knew, in a way, that she was right.  The world seems full of possibility at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.  We are optimistic and catch a glimpse of our potential; what we are really hoping for in the year that lies ahead.  However, New Year’s Resolutions, like goals, have a somewhat bad reputation.  Too often they are perceived as exactly what my seven year stated, “a wish.”    In essence, we close our eyes, cross our fingers and tell ourselves something like; I will be skinny by June.  When the chill of winter has passed and we begin to feel the warmth of the sun on our skin, we are reminded of that “resolution” we made so many months ago!  And, unfortunately, many of us remain in a state of discontent. 

When I looked up the word goal in the dictionary, I preferred Webster’s second definition that defines the word as the place you must reach to score.   I preferred this definition because it involves ACTION.  And action, I believe, is the key to reaching a goal.  The great painter of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci stated, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

 “Without goals, how does one keep score? How does one know if he is winning or losing the game? …Who would want to play basketball if the hoops and nets were taken down? What incentive would there be to dribble, pass, and screen if there were no means of making a goal?  The same applies to the game of life. Goals lend purpose and direction to our living. They excite imagination and stir interest, and they generate a strength of anticipation which can rally all the powers of one’s soul.”  (Asay, 36)

Even Heavenly Father has a goal.  It is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). “Moreover, he has a plan for the accomplishment of his stated goal, and we refer to that plan as the gospel of Jesus Christ. Added to all of this, note Deity’s goal-striving determination described in this scripture:” (Asay, 36)  “For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2).

Goals help us to move forward, toward something.  I have read many “self-help” books on the topic of goal setting, planning and making time for the things that matter most in life.  From my reading, I have gleaned various steps that have proved successful for me at setting and achieving my goals and keeping a balance in my life.

First, I suggest to write down all the things that keep coming up in your mind about what you should be doing.  Get to what it is that you really want to do with your time.  Is it to:  write a book?  run a marathon? spend more time with family? travel? go back to school? etc.  Write it down.

Second, list qualities that you admire in others such as; being a good listener?, a good speaker? optimistic? charitable? and so on.  I find it very easy to recognize good qualities in others, but I don’t always acknowledge the presence of those same qualities in my own nature. I do find that when I write those things down, and refer to them regularly, I realize that many of those qualities are indeed a part of my personality, and if not, I begin to find ways to work them in to my daily planning.

Third, write what Stephen Covey refers to as a “Mission Statement”.  Using the information gathered from the lists created above, generate a  set of affirmations.  (Covey, 307)  For example:

 I am preparing to run the 5 K in April so I will take care of my body by eating healthy and exercising three times a week .

 I am a good listener and a friend to all.

 I smile often.  Etc.

Finally, begin each day by reading your mission statement.  It is a daily reminder of who you want to be and what you truly believe to be the most important matters in life.  The experience is truly a process of self evaluation and self discovery.  

Remember that the purpose of life is that we “might have joy”. (2 Ne. 2: 25) Create joy in your daily life.  Don’t let another day of discontent, boredom or frustration keep you from being the person you know you were sent here to be.  Discover what it is that brings you fulfillment and do it!

By:  Beth

Asay, Carlos E.  “Would You Sell?”  New Era, May 1985, 36.

Covey, Stephen R.   First Things First.  New /York:  Simon & Schuster, 1994.

“goal.”  The New American Webster Handy College Dictionary.