Church & Culture
Want To Accomplish Your Goals? Dream Bigger – And More Long-Term
While it may seem counterintuitive, thinking bigger and on a longer timeline is often a better way to get things done.

You won’t succeed at your New Years resolutions this year.

Sorry for the bad news, but it's highly unlikely, statistically speaking.

But here’s what you can do. You can start.

Want to write a book? Start writing every day.

Lose weight? Start a healthier lifestyle.

Grow in your faith? Start a purposeful discipleship process.

Bigger Goals, Longer Timeline

It’s been said that we overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but underestimate what we can accomplish in five years.

We overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but underestimate what we can accomplish in five years.

I have found this to be overwhelmingly true.

This may be one of the main reasons New Year’s resolutions fail. By trying to get something of lasting significance done in a year, we’re trying to accomplish too much in too short a time. So when we hit a snag or two (as we always will), we see the dream fading away and we give up.

The Complexity Of Accomplishment

For instance, imagine your goal is to lose a certain amount of weight this year (probably the most common New Year’s resolution – at least in the USA).

To do so, the gyms of America will be packed on January 1. But by the end of the first week, they'll be much less packed. And by the end of the month? Back to December levels.

Why such a sudden drop-off? Because we're trying to do too much too soon.

The discipline required to lose weight is multi-faceted. It requires a stunning combination of factors, from finding inspiring long-term motivation, to landing on the right eating plan, to establishing a workout regimen that fits your lifestyle and interests, to finding friends and/or a coach who will provide the right mix of motivation, encouragement and knowledge. And so much more.

Take The Time To Do It Right

Imagine, instead of saying "I'm going to lose 52 pounds this year" (a pound a week), you said "five years from now I want to be so healthy physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally and socially that I can help others accomplish the same goals in their life."

At first, that seems like a much harder goal than 52 pounds a year, and far too long-term to be motivational. But it changes the way you approach the goal in some helpful ways.

First, it puts the weight loss in the proper context – our all-around health.

Second, it gives us the chance to slow down and tackle the complex web of issues surrounding weight loss one at a time. If I have to lose 52 pounds this year, I need to get Everything. Started. Now! There's no time to check out a few local gyms or experiment with several eating plans until I find one that works.

But if I'm on a five year plan with larger goals, I can slow down and do it right.

I can set intermediate goals that aren't just easier to do, but are better for long-term success.

Instead of deciding to hit the gym five days a week while changing all my eating habits (a surefire recipe for failure) what if the first goal for the five year plan was to spend a month or two experimenting with various eating plans until I found one that’s actually sustainable in the long term? And what if I did that while taking the stairs instead of the elevator?

After setting up a doable, long-term eating plan, the next step might be to check out all the gyms in town, or play various sports until I find one I like.

By tackling each of these significant life changes one at a time instead of all at once, I increase the likelihood that I will stick with it, and I can connect them together into a healthier lifestyle that is much more likely to become a permanent part of my life.

The Long Game

This works in all areas of life. Physical, emotional, spiritual and more.

Setting bigger goals over longer timelines is more likely to be met with success than setting moderate goals over shorter time spans.

Especially for self-motivated people, setting bigger goals over longer timelines is more likely to be met with success than setting moderate goals over shorter time spans.

As a pastor, for instance, this has worked for our church.

If I had set out to turn our church around in a year, I'd have either given up in frustration very quickly while settling in to business-as-usual, or hopped from church to church, year after year in constant frustration.

Instead, we determined to play the long game. We looked ahead five years or so, saw where we wanted to be, then started the piece-by-piece process of getting there.

By doing that, our process was healthier, setbacks weren’t devastating, and our end goal was not just met, but exceeded many times over.

The Longest Term Goal Of All

As Christians, our goals aren’t annual or quinquennial (every five years – I Googled it), they’re the longest-term goals of all. They’re eternal.

So, while it’s important, even essential to break down such long-term goals into short-term pieces, it’s critical that we not lose sight of the ultimate eternal goals when we do so.

As church leaders we need to be especially aware of this. If we don’t have the patience for long-term goals, we’re less able to lead others as we aim for eternal goals together.

If we don’t have the patience for long-term goals, we’re less able to lead others as we aim for eternal goals together.

Five years may seem like a long time to keep on track for our goals when we compare it to our fast-paced culture. But in the light of eternity, it’s a drop in the bucket.

So my encouragement to you this year is to slow down, breathe deeply, pray about where you and your church need to be in five years or so (no need for a hard-stop date on it), then make this the year you start.

Starting is not as important as finishing. But starting something you can maintain long-term, then keeping with it? That will get you where you need to go.

Pivot is a part of CT's Blog Forum. Support the work of CT. Subscribe and get one year free.
The views of the blogger do not necessarily reflect those of Christianity Today.

January 01, 2019 at 1:00 AM

Join in the conversation about this post on Facebook.

Recent Posts

Read More from Karl

Follow Christianity Today

Free Newsletters