#1 Thing to Know if You Can't Make Progress on Your Goals
/A few weeks ago, as I started packing my things to leave my monthly Christian leadership class meeting, I did something I never do: I headed to the back of the room and asked for prayer.
I walked into that evening feeling heavy and confused. I felt like I was filling my time with tasks, but none of them were the right things. I was exhausted from spinning my wheels in my business and personal goals but making little progress. I was disappointed at myself for not having a solution and deeply desired clarity from the Lord to know how to be better. I felt like I was letting God down for not reaching my potential.
As tears rolled down my face and I told the intercessor my prayer request, she said something that struck me. “Jesus never fulfilled his potential, but he did fulfill his purpose. Your purpose revolves around your relationship with God.” Immediately I felt something I hadn’t in months.
Ease.
I remember back in January when it was time to throw myself into goal planning, personal growth, and all the things productivity, something felt off inside my heart. I wasn’t motivated. I was discouraged at the lack of clarity I had from my new business venture. I felt the burn out from all the weekends sprinting to get things done when I should’ve been resting. And most of all, I knew my relationships, particularly my marriage, needed a lot of work.
I felt helpless, weak, unable to move forward, so I stopped trying. Perhaps I even slipped backward in some ways.
My morning routine (my foundation of personal achievement) became non-existent. Wine became a much more frequent addition to my shopping list. My quiet time became shorter and shorter, and on many days it was absent entirely. I stopped fighting for a relationship that felt too far gone to fix. Some days I’d wake up only to start counting the minutes until I could lay down again.
I didn’t have a motivation problem. I had a spiritual problem. I was trying to muster up my own strength, inspiration, and clarity to pursue success instead of seeking it from the true source: the Holy Spirit. And as Christians, when we start to think that we are the solution and savior we’re looking for, God has a way of stopping the train to let us know something’s off.
So when I asked for prayer that night and received the clarity I was looking for, here’s what I learned:
Chasing our potential and holding ourselves accountable to growth is important. But it can never become the MOST important thing.
As someone who writes, speaks, and coaches with a focus on pursuing goals, I know the Lord used this past year to teach me a life-changing lesson. What good is my pursuit of personal growth if my foundation is faulty?
Goals are good, but they were never meant to become your God. You can’t look to them to save you or to speak into your worth. They can’t provide the gratification or contentment you’re looking for.
Because progress and growth were never meant to carry the weight we give them. They’re meant to be the results of our purpose, not our purpose itself.
If I’m going all-in on my goals but am bankrupting my relationship with my Creator, my actions are nothing more than tasks to keep me busy.
If I’m focused on building the business of my dreams but end up sacrificing my family and friends in the process, my work is worthless.
And if I strive to make myself a masterpiece but can’t love myself while I’m still a work in progress, I’ll never find the contentment I’m looking for.
Accomplishments mean nothing if they take your focus off what matters most.
In the seasons when the burn out hits, the ambiguity covers you like a weighted blanket, and you’re sick of trying to measure up, remember this: Jesus will never ask you to prove your worth through productivity or ask for evidence that you’re pursuing your best self. It’s okay if you’re not going full speed toward your potential all the time. Your growth is important, but it’s not as important as your relationship with Him.
If you’re feeling unmotivated, anxious or exhausted like I was, there’s a good chance you’re seeking to find worth in all of the wrong ways. Instead of giving in to the constant feelings of shame and guilt for not accomplishing more, I invite you to start pursuing a new goal: grace.
Don’t give up on growing, just remember that your worth isn’t measured by how many goals you accomplish. Rest in the fact that the most strategic thing you can do to become your best self is to get more in tune with Jesus. He is the only one who can give you the motivation and direction you’re looking for, provide lasting fulfillment, and bring growth in the areas that matter.
And most of all, remember that your purpose in life is not to get more done - it’s to stay in step with and do the will of the Father. God is able to do immeasurably more than you could ever imagine, but that requires you turning over control. When you make the choice to desire a relationship with Him more than you desire a certain outcome, your surrender will bear more fruit than you can ever earn on your own.
Joyful Takeaway: Progress and personal growth are meant to be the results of our purpose, not our purpose itself.