Goal Setting

Goals. Some of us love and live by them; others of us hate even the mention of the word. But history and study after study have shown that those who set goals are wildly more successful than those who do not. A study was done in 1953 on Yale graduates proves this point: these individuals were the cream of the crop, graduating from one of the top universities in the nation. But there was an amazing stat: 3% of these Yale graduates earned far more money then all other 97% put together.

What was the difference?

The 3% made written goals, with plans for action, which they reviewed daily.

Harvard did similar study:

• 84% of class had no goals
• 13% had goals but didn’t write them down.
• 3% had goals and wrote them down, plan for action and reviewed daily.

In 1989, there was an extensive review of these Harvard graduates and this is what they found:

• 13 % with mental goals were earning 2X as much as 84%
• 3% with written goals and action plans were earning 10X as much as the other 97%

Setting goals makes a difference. So let me ask you: what kind of goals are you setting for your microchurch? What would happen if you simply reviewed these daily? Success will go to the next level if we set goals in our microchurch. It will be exponentially increased if you take just 1 to 2 minutes every morning to look over your goals.

In order to help you devise some microchurch goals, we put together a microchurch health assessment to focus on five key components of microchurch: worship, mission, community, multiplication, and discipleship.  If these five aspects of microchurch are healthy and thriving, your microchurch will be explosive! We strongly recommend that you print and fill this out, giving your microchurch an honest assessment. From there, devise some goals that will help you reach the next level in each of these areas.

Click here for the mc-health assessment!! Come up with at least one goal for each of these categories, write them down, and review them daily!

Here are 8 tips for successful goal setting

1.Highly effective goals are written.

• Studies show that people who write down goals are 10X as likely to achieve them then people who don’t write them down

2.They are stated in the present tense.

• Write the goals as if they were already facts. Ex: “I see 15 new people come to my microchurch by the end of May.”
• When you use “I will” you mentally push your commitment off into the future.

3.They are stated positively.

• Say “We will have a missional direction this semester”, not “we won’t be inwards focused”. You have to avoid talking negatively because we think in pictures. That’s how our minds work. Every time you write a word or say something, you evoke a picture in your mind. And you can’t evoke a picture of not doing something.

4. They are consistent with your personal mission statement.

• Most unhappiness comes from proclaiming internally that someone or something is important to us and then acting on totally different sets of priorities. Make sure they line up with your passion, vision, and calling!

5. They are specific and measurable.

• The more you are focused on your goals the more you will be aware of the people, ideas and resources that will help you get there.
• When you are writing, ask yourself “can I be more specific”

6. They are connected to a timeline.

• If you have a goal to multiply your group, have a timeline such as “I will raise up an apprentice by the end of Spring and multiply my microchurch in the Fall of 2017.”

7. They are reasonable and challenging.

• “I am going to reach 1 million people in 2017” is not reasonable.
• It should though make you feel uncomfortable, slightly above what you feel you are capable of right now.

8. They are thoroughly planned.

• Give it a date/ target/ deadline etc.