June 29, 2010 at 6:13 pm, by Carl

Question:  How can I get more motivated to achieve all the goals I set for myself?


With a true dream based on your proper sense of yourself and your correct understanding of success, the question won’t be how to get motivated.  The question will be how to turn it off and relax a bit.  I was walking with a student across campus lamenting to some degree about how hard it had been that semester to motivate my students.  Finally, at one point I turned to her and said, “You know, I should not have to motivate someone to achieve his or her goals.”  If that is required, then the goals you have are not your own.


If you have goals, then you will have the motivation to achieve them.  If you have no motivation, then those are not your goals.


I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” W.H. Murray, Scottish Mountain Climber

 

Be certain that you are living your own goals, your own dream.  If you are, then the motivation will clearly be there.  Of course, there are times when you need to remind yourself of your long-term vision, your dream and your goals.


It is very useful to periodically review the vision, the dreams and the path you are on.  In the ancient days, life ran by the seasons.  As the months would turn, many ancient cultures would have a time of reflection and future consideration.


The ancient Church took this concept into what they called “Ember Days.”  You can use this same idea of Ember Days to regularly revisit your dreams and goals.  I use our very American holidays of New Years, Easter, Memorial Day and Labor Day to take time for this very task.  You could pick your own time, but what you do is very simple.  First you look back over the previous period of time (about 3 months in my plan) and reflect to see how (or if) you accomplished steps toward your goals.  Then, you consider the upcoming period of time: establish new actions points, perhaps re-examine key goals and ensure you are on the path of your dreams.


This period of reflection is very important for at least two reasons.  First, we may have drifted and we need to “course correct.”   A pilot must follow a course on a precise degree heading when flying.  Being off by even one degree can, over time, result in being horribly far off course.


Second, we should hold our dreams a bit loosely.  As we saw dealing with the definition of success, a new definition of “arriving” may be in order.  In the end, my journey may put me onto new paths unseen.  As my friend Pastor Paul Cornwell taught me, I may start moving from Point A to Point B ONLY to get me moving, to climb that metaphorical hill.  From that point, now on my journey, I then can see Point C and realize that is the location God wants me to go, but I would not have seen it had I not started moving.


We do not know the journey until we are on it.  Our vision and goals will guide us, but as we periodically review, we may discover a new talent that impacts our view.  We may meet a new person that opens a new vista.  We may conclude that an earlier goal is not really want we want.  So, we adjust.  It’s okay.  You are moving, which is far more than most people can say.