Amen, all right over there in Philippians chapter number three and of course today is the last day the last Sunday of
The year and it's a good way to end the year to be in the house of God of course
and I want to encourage you to start the year off right by being in the house of God next Sunday on the first Sunday of
the year and
Usually at the end of the year. I like to preach a sermon not every year, but
often on the idea of
of
Setting goals and having looking forward to the new year and this morning
I want to preach to you on the subject of how to set and achieve
Goals how to set and achieve goals and we're there in Proverbs chapter number three if you look at verse number twelve
I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul said the Apostle Paul was
very
Successful
man someone has succeeded
Personally spiritually and in his
Ministry his business and in Philippians 3 and verse 12. He says this he says not as though I had already
Attained the word attained means to have succeeded in achieving or reaching something
He says not as though I have already attained either were already perfect the were perfect in our King James Bible means
Complete or mature he says, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which I
For which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. He says this in verse 13. He says brethren. I count not myself
To have apprehended the word apprehend again means to achieve to attain to grass and here we have the Apostle Paul
Who was arguably the most successful Christian church planner evangelist missionary the world has ever known
And he says look I have not
Apprehended I have not already attained
I am not perfect complete mature
and he says I've got things that I can work on things that I can get better at and as we begin a
New year and end an old year. I think we're all ready to put 2020 in the books
We're all ready to move on from this year
The new year is a great time to take inventory of where you are and
Where you are lacking?
It's a good time to take some inventory and really look inside of yourself and look at yourself and look at your family
And ask yourself. Where am I in life? Where am I?
spiritually physically financially emotionally
And and where is it that I am lacking now sometimes when you preach these types of sermons some people check out
And they think you know why you know. I don't need that. I'm good to go you know and
You know I don't know what else to tell you except if you're the person who thinks I don't need to work on myself
Then you are
foolish and
If you don't know
Where you need to work on yourself, then just ask your spouse
Or ask your kids or ask me. I'd be happy to tell you
if you would ask me and
All of us have something we can work on all of us know look none of us have attained
No one is already perfect
no one has apprehended and
The new year is a great time
For a fresh start the end of a year is a great time to take inventory to see where we are and where we're lacking
And the new year is a great time for a fresh start to leave the past behind and work towards
Getting better notice what he says there again in verse 12
He says not as though
I had already attained either were already perfect
And then he says this because sometimes when you bring this stuff up some people they tend to negativity right so you say hey
You're not perfect. They're like. I know you know. I'm not saying you're not perfect to hurt your feelings
I am saying you're not perfect to motivate you because notice the apostle Paul says he wasn't throwing a pity party
He says not as though. I had already attained either were already perfect
He says, but I follow after
He says look I realize that I've got things that I can do things that I can work on and because of that I follow
After that phrase he means I keep working at it. I'm I'm following after a goal
I've got something I want to do if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
Apprehended of Christ Jesus. He says brethren. I cannot myself have apprehended, but this one thing
I do notice he says forgetting those things which are behind
Look let me tell you something about your past you can't redo it
You know whatever you did or didn't do in
2020 whatever you did or didn't do in the last decade whatever you did or didn't do in your
Marriage or raising your children. I'm not trying to excuse it for you, but I'm telling you this
There's no point in dwelling on it. You say well. Well. Well. There's a lot of mistakes
There's a lot of things that could have been done better. Well let that motivate you to follow after
Let that motivate you to do more to be better to grow Paul had so many regrets that he could have told us about
He spent so many years on the wrong team persecuting the Church of God and and working in the wrong way
And he says you know what what I've learned is that I need to forget those things which are behind
He says and reaching forth unto those things which are before
So I want to speak to you this morning on this subject of how to set and achieve goals and what I want to do
This morning, and it's looking very practical sermon. I'd encourage you to take some notes
I've got two parts to the sermon the first part has to do with how to set goals
And I'll give you four thoughts on how to set goals and then the second part has to do with how to achieve goals
and I'm gonna give you four thoughts in regards to how to
achieve goals and I
Encourage you to write these down
And I'd encourage you to really take this seriously and over the next week as we end this year and begin the new to set
Some goals for yourself too, and you can call them whatever you want. You know goals resolutions, whatever
But the point is this we all should be working on ourselves
So let's talk about setting goals notice verse 14 in verses 12 and 13
He tells us how he has not yet attained how he was not already perfect now
He has not yet apprehended in verse and he also tells us in verses 12 and 13
He says that I follow after I'm continually working at it
He says forgetting those things which are behind then he says this in verse 14. He says I press toward the mark
The word mark is referring to a target or a goal
The apostle Paul says I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus the prize there is the reward or the result
He says look and honestly if you if we look at the apostle Paul we say how is it that one man could accomplish so
Much he's telling us a secret to success here
He says I'm constantly pressing toward a mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus and I would just encourage you you need to have some goals
You need to have a mark you need to have some purpose to life somewhere
You're heading towards and working towards you should set up some goals
So when it comes to setting up some goals
I want to get just four thoughts on how to set up some proper goals because what I've learned is that
Oftentimes we don't know how to set up good goals
We set up bad goals
And and then we fail at those goals and a lot of it has to do with how we set them up to begin with
So let me give you four thoughts in regards to how to set up goals
And maybe you can jot these down number one make your goals specific not general
Make your goals specific not general now over the years
I preach several sermons on the subject of goal setting and things like this and
Many of you have heard those sermons you say why are you preaching them again? Because you're still not there
Because you still need the help and I need the help
But you know, I will say this over the last several years. I've usually used weight loss as the example
For the goals and the reason I like to use weight loss is because it's something that that people have a lot of goals about
So probably the number one goal that people
Set for the new year resolution for the new year
It's also says something that's simple for us to kind of wrap our minds around
But you know what I've noticed is that when I when I do the the weight loss goal, it rarely goes over
Well, you know people usually people check out just because they don't want to hear it
So I'm gonna use a different a different example this year. All right, so some of you are like, ah, here comes the weight
Lie, here comes all the weight jokes. Okay, I'm not gonna use weight loss as an example for the sermon this year
I'll use a different example
But you know some something that when we started 2020 something my wife and I had and you and you know this
One of our personal goals for 2020 we had lots of goals
And I and I won't go through and talked about all our goals. I will say this we did not accomplish
all of our goals
But the Lord allowed us to I was just last night
I was going back and kind of looking at notes and and goals that we had
For for ourselves personally and then goals we had for the church and we we did accomplish about 80% of our goals
Which I'm thankful for we did not accomplish all our goals
I'm not standing up here telling you I've got it all, you know put together part of this is motivating me
To do better to be better
but one of our goals that my wife and I had as we were going into 2020 was to produce a children's book and
You know, we had a goal of producing one children's book in 2020 by the grace of God
we produced two and and we and we're thankful for that and and praise the Lord for for that, of course and
You know when when it comes to making a goal or having a goal your goals should be specific
Not general. So here here's the example
In 2020, my wife and I sold somewhere around 500
Books between book one and book two and this is not having anything to do with churches
Just our personal little side business that we've got and we sold around 500 books and
And and that's that's that's not a lot but it's you know, for those of you wondering the average self-publisher
Studies tell us that the average self-published
Book sells somewhere between 50 and 100 books in the lifespan of that book
So someone self-publishes a book and they will sell the average cells between 50 and 100
So the fact that we were able to solve 500 in
In in in the first year is great
We're not dr. Seuss, but you know
It's it's it's a good start when we when we talk about making goals
Specific and not general. Here's here's here's a point
You know if my wife and I and we were talking about it last night sit down and say, okay
Well last you know in 2020 we sold around 500 books. So next year we want to sell more books
Well, here's the problem that's that's too general
That's not specific
You want to sell more books? What does that mean?
You know a specific goal is hey last year. We sold around 500 books in 2020
So in 2021, let's sell another 500 books, you know, or maybe let's sell
750 books or let's try to have a goal of selling a thousand books, you know, the point is to be
Specific or we might say well in 2021. We don't plan on
Creating another book, you know, we want to just focus on the two that we've got
So since we're not creating new content
maybe a goal would be to sell 400 books of the ones that we've already sold because obviously if you already sold 500 of
Book one and book two to sell another 400 means you have to find 400 new customers, you know
The point is to be specific
When you're making a goal see sometimes people say I don't set goals that doesn't work
But people they set these goals and they're these just generic
General goals, you know, they'll say I'm totally one, you know, I'll lose some weight
Okay, some of you are like I thought you said you remember enough weight
Sorry, I can't help myself
You know, but here's the question
You want to lose weight great?
I think that's a great goal. But how much weight?
Be specific. It may require you getting on a scale
It may require you just looking at some, you know documenting some facts and say okay
Well, you know you say well, I've got a goal of losing weight for the last 17 years every every new year
okay, but maybe
Maybe if you get specific and say my goal is to lose X amount of pounds in
2021 you say I want to save some money in the new year the great
How much money do you want to save in the new year?
I want to get out of debt in the new year good
How much debt do you want some people you ask them how much that you're they don't even know
Not even sure how much that they're in maybe you need to you know
Print some statements open up some bills figure out how much that you're in and ask yourself
You know, how much debt could I pay off in the coming year if you are in business or in sales?
You might say well, I want to sell more
Books, I want to sell more cars. I want to sell more houses. I want to sell more of my service
I want to get gain more clients. I want to do this. Okay, great. Great. But here's what I'm saying
Don't go into next year saying I want to get more clients go into next year saying I want 50 new clients
No, no one thinks I want some more cars. Okay, how many cars do you want to sell?
How many houses do you want to sell? How many books do you want to sell?
The point of a goal is to make it specific not general
You go into the next year saying I worried the Bible more. Okay. Well, what does that mean?
two times a year
three times a year
For some of you and I'm not meeting up on you
I'm saying here's a good goal a good goal would be just I just want to read the Bible cover to cover next year
I think that's a great goal
You got to make that goal
But look there's a difference between saying I want to read the Bible next year versus I want to read the Bible cover to cover
next year
One's very general and generic the other one's very specific
You need to make sure that your goals are specific not general
Sometimes people make goals like this. They say I want to be a better husband. I
Don't be a better wife. I
Want to be a better father. I want to be a better mother. I want to be a better sibling
I want to be a better son or a better daughter. I want to be a better employee or I want to be a better employer
And and look all of those are great ideas
I'm not trying to discourage you from that and I'm gonna get back to this later on the sermon
But just just understand this I want to be a better mom. It's too general
You say well, how do I know when a when a goal is specific? Here's how you know when a goal specific?
When it's specific enough for you to be able to know when you have accomplished the goal
See if my wife and I say in terms of anyone want to sell more books, okay
Well, when have we accomplished that when we've sold one book?
done
You know, but if we say hey in terms of anyone where it's all 400 books. Well, look, that's real easy to track
Once we get to 400 401. Hey, we accomplish our goal
We did what we set out to do the problem with these types of goals. I want to be a better dad
Okay. Well, when do you when are you a better dad?
In terms of anyone I'll be a better mother. Okay. Well, what are you a better man?
Are you gonna are you gonna survey the children?
Children am I now a better mother
You know, and again, I'm not against that I think you should try to be a better husband
I think you should try to be a better wife
I think you should try to be a better husband and father and and and all those things but just understand this that sometimes
Sometimes we make goals are too general. And here's what I think sometimes we want them to be general
Because specific goals are
accountable goals and
If I never get on the scale there I go in
If I never jot down I
Need to lose 25 pounds this year. I need to lose 50 pounds this year
I need to lose 35 pounds this year
We just got to leave it kind of you know
Just kind of goes up into the cloud somewhere and it's just like I want to lose some weight this year
Then I'm not really accountable for anything and that's fine
If you want to be where you are in the same place in life one year later
But if you actually want to press toward the mark
Then you have to make your goals number one specific and not general
Specific means you'll know when you accomplished it
Here's number two
We're talking about how to set goals number one make your goals specific not general number two make your goals difficult yet attainable
Make your goals difficult yet attainable. Some goals are so easy that they are a joke
Other goals are so difficult that you're setting yourself up for failure
Your
Goals should be difficult
They should stretch you
But they should be attainable
Again, since my wife and I sold somewhere around 500 books in 2020
I'm at the personal books that we've wrote
You know, then then it may be appropriate
For us to say yeah, let's let's try to sell another 500 books 400 books 700 books
You know, it would be silly for us to say hey, honey
In our first year we sold 500 books in 2021, we're gonna sell 1 million, you know, it's like come on
You know that that sometimes we set these goals, you know, maybe you people get this idea
I'm gonna do this. I'm accomplices and they have these super big goals. Look have goals that are difficult yet attainable
Difficult yet attainable don't make them so easy. They're a joke
But
Don't make them so difficult that there's no way that you can actually accomplish them
Look have a goal of reading the Bible cover cover this year. I think everyone should at least have that goal
You should just jot that down read the Bible cover to cover 2021, you know, some of you could read the Bible cover to cover
twice next year
It's it's it's easy to have a goal. It's not easy. Let me say it's attainable
To have a goal of reading the Bible cover to cover three years three times in a year four times in a year
You know people tell me I'm gonna read the Bible 22 times next year. It's like shut up
Are you on monk, you know
Have you ever read the Bible? You're not gonna read the Bible 20 times in one year
You're not gonna read a Bible 10 times in one year
You got to make sure that your goals are difficult yet
attainable
number three
Make your goals short-term and look this is my opinion
And and and I do a lot of reading on subjects like that. I like reading business books leadership books
you know the
Best practices types type of books and you know, you'll you'll see that in the sermon
I've got things I want to read to you and things like that
In my opinion it is best to say short-term not long-term goals
And again, this is just my opinion but if I were you what I would do is I would have set quarterly goals
Sometimes the problem people have in the new year is they set these these one-year
Goals, but a year is often too long to strive for one goal
Some of you set goals last year and you can't even remember
what they were and
you dead sure can't find the piece of paper you wrote them on a
Year is often too long to strive for one goal
You're likely to forget about it. You're likely to just you know, just get busy with life
so I believe it is best to set quarterly goals 12-week goals and
And and the cool thing about setting quarterly goals is that you get to have a new year every 12 weeks
Every 12 weeks you get to look at a sheet of paper and say yeah, we did that. Yeah, we accomplished that
Yeah, we got there. Yeah, we did that and then set new goals for the next year
And obviously if you've got quarterly goals, you're not gonna have some big huge goal
but I think
short-term goals goals that you're able to get to in
A small amount of time have that victory are more likely to be one go to Proverbs 29 if you would from the set
if you open up your Bible just keep your place in Philippians because we're gonna come back to it and go to Proverbs if you
Keep your if you open your Bible just right in the center
You're more than likely to follow the book of Psalms right after Psalms. You have the book of Proverbs Proverbs 29
Let me give you the fourth the fourth point in regards to setting goals number one
Make your goal specific not general number two make your goals difficult yet attainable number three make your goals short-term
short-term goals
So again, for example, if my wife and I have a goal of selling 400 books next year
Then then then our goal would be to sell 100 books in the first quarter
Another hundred in the second quarter another hundred in third quarter another hundred fourth quarter
Here's the other thing short-terms goal allow you to adjust. I
Mean if we said and we end up selling
350 books in the first quarter then we're like, hey, maybe our goal was a little too short too small
Maybe we should make if we end up selling 50 books in the first quarter
Then we might we might say well
Maybe that was it was too difficult to find that many
Customers that have already don't have book one and book two or whatever
The point is this when you have short-term goals, it allows you to see the finish line
Sooner it allows you to make adjustments a year is just often too long to strive for one goal
You're likely to forget about it. I believe it's better to set quarterly goals
I would encourage you to set a goal for January February March
if
Your goal for example, let's say your goal is to read the Bible cover to cover
in in in 2020 2021
You know nothing crazy you're not gonna read it two times or three times or four times
Although many of you could have that goal if you say I just want to read it cover to cover
Well, look then here's goal
Number one read nine times a day in the month of January and knock out the New Testament you knock out one-third of the of the
Bible in the first month of the year
Now you've got 11 months to finish the Old Testament two-thirds of the Bible. We've got a chart for you coming
Oh, it's already here, but we haven't given it to you that that
That allows you to read the Old Testament starting Genesis 1 February 1st through December 31st read the Old Testament
You you read 20% of the Old Testament in February and March and you're on track
To read the Bible cover to cover have your goals short term
Number four make your goals small not large and again kind of going with this idea break it up
Take that big year-long goal and break it into smaller goals have small
short-term goals that add up to big long-term goals I
Mean, maybe you need to lose 40 pounds next year, but your goal could be to lose 10 pounds in the first quarter of
the year
Proverbs 29 are you there look at verse 18?
Proverbs 29 verse 18 the Bible says this where there is no vision the people perish
But he that keepeth the law happy is he look when it comes to setting up goals you need to get a vision
Get a vision for how things could be
Get a vision for what your spiritual life could be like
Get a vision for what your financial life could be like your health could be like your relationship with your spouse or with your children
Look your business get a vision dream a little bit say because Bible says look where there is no vision the people perish
We need to have a vision for what God can do and obviously I have a different life than you have different life
I have goals and and things that I want to do for our church and and
Personally with our family you may have a different business or a different career or different things going on
But you ought to get a vision you ought to set a mark you ought to have some purpose you will waste next year
If you don't have any direction that you're heading to
So set some goals. I don't know how to set some goals, okay?
Well make your goals specific not general make your goals difficult yet attainable make your goals short term not long term
And I like 12-week goals make your goals small not large break them up into
bite-sized
Portions
Get a vision because where there is no vision the people
Parrish go to Proverbs 24 if you would you're there in Proverbs 29 flip over Proverbs 24
So the first part of the sermon and the shorter part of the sermon have to do with how to set goals
the second part of this sermon and what I would like to focus on is
how to achieve goals because
Setting the goal gives you purpose
It gives you a purpose for where you're going
But achieving the goal requires practice
Requires practicality
Requires you actually doing things to get that goal setting a goal and achieving goals are two different things
Some of you are like well pastor. I've listened to your goal setting sermons, and I said all those goals
I did all that I made them specific. I made them general
I wrote them down, and then I put them on my refrigerator, and I'm still fat
I'm still broke
I'm still carnal
Well, here's the thing it's good to set goals, but you also need to work at achieving those goals
you can't just put a goal on piece of paper and
Expect for it to set itself to achieve itself
So four steps for just any goal make your goal specific not general make your goals difficult yet attainable make your goals short-term
Not long-term make your goals small not
Big let me give you four thoughts in regards to how to achieve goals number one
Figure out the steps needed to achieve your goals
Once you've taken the time to dream a little to get a vision to say you know well
Here's what here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to accomplish. Okay now
You're not done now you need to dig into that goal now
You need to dig into that goal and ask yourself, okay?
If I'm going to sell a hundred books in the first three months of my wife
And I are gonna sell hundred books the first three months of the year if I'm going to lose ten pounds in the first three
Months of next year if I'm going to read the Bible two times
Next year which means that I need to read half the Bible in the first quarter of the year if I'm going to grow
My business if I'm going to expand if I'm going to hire more
Employees if I'm going to do these things then I need to dig in and figure out
What are the steps needed to achieve your goals you must define the steps?
Are you there in Proverbs 24 look at verse 27 notice what the Bible says?
Proverbs 24 verse 27 prepare thy work without
without means outside and
make it fit for thyself in the field and
Afterwards build thine house and of course is a proverb that is teaching us
It's a little weird a wise statement that's teaching us a concept
But the concept is this you don't show up to a field and just start building a house
You have to prepare before you get there
Before you even step foot on the field. He says prepare thy work without make it fit for thyself in the field
Here's what he's saying outside of the job site
Before you get to the job site
Before you get there
You know figure out what you need
What building materials you what tools you're gonna need what are you gonna need to build this house get ready and when it comes to?
Building in in your life. You need to realize that there's some things that are gonna require
There's some things you're gonna need you to figure out. What steps are needed to
Achieve this goal keep your place there in Proverbs go go back to Philippians chapter 3
Philippians chapter 3 you need to define the steps
Define the steps clear and effective steps
Turn to Philippians, but I want you to hear what I'm gonna say
Clear and effective steps
Towards a goal are the key to successfully achieving that goal not the goal itself in
Fact if you can figure out how to get the clear and effective steps and never even write down a goal you're more likely to
achieve it
Clear and effective steps towards a goal are the key to successfully achieving a goal
Not the goal itself
Jim Rohn who's an entrepreneur and author and speaker and he's dead he wrote lots on
Business and things like that. He said this success is a few simple disciplines
practice every day while failure is
simply a few errors in judgment repeated every day if
You want to achieve if you want to succeed if you want to get your goals you need to figure out
What is it that I need to do every day?
What is it that I need to do every day if I want to memorize the book of the Bible?
I don't write that down on piece of paper, and then just okay, Lord
Help me memorize it by osmosis
you know I got to figure out what am I gonna do every day to achieve that goal if I want to read the Bible if
I want to
Build a business whatever it is clear and effective steps towards a goal are the key to successfully achieving a goal
Not the goal itself James Clear author of atomic habits
I'm gonna read to you a little excerpt from that book here in a minute
He said this this is why the system is greater than the goal
The goals are good set the goals
I'm all for goals
But the systems developed the systems developed to reach that goal are more important the systems
Is greater than the goal I?
Mean my wife, and I could jot down on a piece of paper this time last year
We did jot down a piece of paper. We have a goal to write a children's book, okay?
What kind of a children's book my wife's gonna write it and I'm gonna illustrate it
And and we're gonna do you know we can sit there and and write it down and plan it and put it on a refrigerator
Door somewhere, but look that books not gonna write itself
It required
effort energy
It required a bunch of small goals
You know well you're gonna write the first draft by this time
And then we're gonna edit it down
And then you know I have to we have to figure out well
How is this book gonna be laid out how many pictures gonna be needed what kind of picture gonna be needed okay?
We need these many pictures well this if we're gonna have this goal this book done by this time
Then these pictures need to be done by this time and these pictures need to be done by this time and look here's all I'm
Telling you writing a children's book and again. I'm not you you may not want to write a children's book
I understand that that's fine. That's just something we wanted to do, but the point is this we could write that down
We could write that plan, but you know what it took it took hours at night
It took time after we put the kids to bed to say okay you work downstairs all work upstairs
You you know write and write and edit and think and write and proofread and do those things on all draw and it took time
to actually
accomplish the goal
wishing never accomplished anything only working does
So figure out the steps needed to achieve your goals
Define those steps
Define what it's going to take to
Lose weight
Save money get out of debt
Start a business hire an employee
Get more sales
Figure out what it means figure out what you have to do
Then I would say this not only should you define the steps, but you should refine the steps
Refine the steps
If you would allow me to I'd like to read to you a little excerpt from a book called atomic habits
it's written by a guy named James clear and
It's under the heading of this coach improved every tiny thing by 1% and here's what happened
And I'll just read this to you and kind of make make the point
the fate of British cycling changed one day in 2003
The organization which was the governing body of for professional cycling in Great Britain had recently hired
Dave Brails Ford as its new performance director at the time
Professional cyclists in Great Britain had endured nearly 100 years of mediocrity
since 1908 British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games and
They had fared even worse in the cycling's biggest race the Tour de France in
110 years no British cyclists had ever won the event
Brails Ford had been hired to put British cycling on a new trajectory
What made him different from previous coaches was his relentless commitment to a strategy that he referred to as the aggregation of?
Marginal gains which was the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do
Brails Ford and his coaches began by making small adjustments
You might expect from a professional cycling team
They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable and rubbed alcohol on the tires for a better grip
They asked riders to wear electrically heated over shorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature while riding and while riding and use
Biofeedback sensors to monitor how each athlete responded to a particular workout the team tested various
Fabrics in a wind tunnel and had their outdoor riders switch to indoor racing suits
Which proved to be lighter and more aerodynamic, but they didn't stop there
Brails Ford and his team continued to find 1%
improvements in overlooked and unexpected areas
They tested different types of massage gels to see which one led to the fastest muscle recovery
They hired a surgeon to teach each rider the best way to wash their hands and reduce the changes of
The chances excuse me of catching a cold
They determined the type of pillow and mattress that led to the best night's sleep for each rider
They even painted the inside of the team truck which helped them spot little bits of dust that would normally slip by unnoticed
but could degrade the performance of the finely tuned bikes as
These and hundreds of other small improvements accumulated the results came faster than anyone could have imagined
Just five years after Braille Ford took over the British cycling team dominated the road and track cycling events at the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing where they won an astounding 60% of the gold medals available
Four years later when the Olympic Games came to London the Brits raised the bar as they set nine Olympic records and seven world records
That same year Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France the next year his teammate Chris Froome
Won the race and he would go on to win again in
2015 16 and 17 giving the British team five Tour de France victories in six years during the 10-year span from
2007 to 2017 British cyclists won
178 World Championships and 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals and captured five Tour de France
victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history and
I read all that to just say this in sports
It's easy like cycling
To understand what the goal is
Because everybody has the same goal, right? I mean everybody that gets on a bike at the Tour de France has a goal of winning
the race
every football team has a goal of winning the
championship
Every baseball team has a goal of winning the World Series
Every football team has a goal of winning the Super Bowl every everybody in in sports. Everybody has the same goal
So what what makes the difference is not who has the most effective goal. They all have the same goal
You say what makes the same the difference. Here's what makes the difference the steps they take to achieve those goals
There's a reason why some people just succeed in in the same area. Look every area of life
Has people that are just better than others every industry every
Everywhere you go there's there's going to be people that are better and they all might have the same goal
They all have the goal of selling children's books. They all have the goal of
Having a church they all have the same goals what makes some people achieve better than others. It's not the goal
It's the steps they take
To achieve those goals, so you must define
The steps and you must refine the steps
if I'm gonna lose weight then what actions do I need to take to lose weight and
How do I refine those actions to make them better and more effective?
How do I refine the actions of saving money of getting out of debt of selling more books?
And this is where the whole husband wife father mother thing comes in, right?
He'll say I wanna be a better husband. Okay. Well, that's what you said last year in the year before that you still stink. I
Want to be a better wife, I'll be a better mother. Okay, but let's let's dig into that
Let's dig into that. What would make you a better mother? I
Mean if you say I want to be a better mother, I want to be a better husband. Okay
Well, then obviously you're there's something
You're failing at there's something you're missing that makes you feel like I'm not where I should be and and all of us could say
That so what needs to change?
For you to not be the perfect husband or the perfect wife
but to be a better husband a better wife a better mother a better father a
Better employer a better employee dig in define the steps and then refine the steps
Make them better. I'm
Having a staff training the month of January and I've been telling the staff guys about this
You know a very Baptist Church. We're in the business of reaching people with the gospel and
And don't let that word offend you. Jesus said I must be about my father's business
book of Acts talks about the fact that they
Brought in the deacons and set them over this business. This is our business
This is our industry reaching people reaching people with the gospel, you know, we've got goals
We've got all sorts of goals and things that we've accomplished and things that we want to accomplish in the next year
But I'm gonna be teaching them a lesson about look there's really only it's not that complicated
There's really only certain reasons why people come to church
There's certain things that we have found over the years why people come to church and there are certain reasons why people stay in church
so
We need to define that and refine that
Make it better get better get better at and in different areas. We all have different strains and we all do
different things I
Preach that's my main thing. There's lots of things that I do
But there's only you know
If I have to tell you what's the number one thing that I do as the pastor very Baptist Church
I set the strategy. I set the plan. I set the calendar. I do the counseling
There's lots of things that I do
but if there's one thing that I that I got my job requires is for me to stand up three times a week and
preach and
I have to preach and look and I hope this doesn't sound wrong and I hope you you don't do you take this Carly
But I need to get up here and I need to be engaging and entertaining. I
Know you need to feel like you're actually learning something and again getting something
or or or the church will begin to
It will stop growing and people will start leaving and start going somewhere else where they can learn and grow and be entertained
So we all have to get better. I tell our preachers this
You have to get better every time you preach. I can't look I can't as the pastor of this church
I can't get up here and preach
The same today as I preached ten years ago. Sometimes people will send me emails and I appreciate it and I appreciate
The encouragement feels a man you've reached a lot better now and you did ten years ago and it's like, you know, thank you
I'm trying
I'm trying to get 1% better every week
I'm using 1% better every week. You may not notice that from this week to next week
You may not notice that from this month to next month, but you'll notice it from this year to five years from now
You'll notice as you're getting better. You're improving. So look we must define and we must refine
We must define what do I need to do in order to accomplish my goal? And how can I do it better?
Now if you're cycling, maybe it means
getting lightweight
Suits and putting alcohol on the tires and and doing all those things if you're a mom
It might mean deleting Facebook
It might mean you know, it might mean all sorts of things. I don't I don't know the point is this
Figure out the steps needed to achieve your goals define them and refine them define them and refine them
Number two go back to Philippians if you would I'm giving you four steps to achieve your goals
We talked about four steps to set your goals and all four steps to achieve your goal number one figure out
The steps needed to achieve your goal define them and refine them number two narrow your focus
Narrow your focus and do not try to do too much
And I'll tell you this is where I struggle I
struggle with this and oftentimes when we are
Recalibrating and recalculating our goals at very Baptist Church whether it's at the beginning of the year every quarter or whatever
One of the things that I'm constantly trying to do and I'll talk to my wife a lot about I'll talk to the staff guys
A lot about it is is what do we need to cut out?
What are we doing because we have this tendency to just take on things?
And what I've noticed in ministry is that in ministry people are often trying to get you to take on things
You'd be shocked how many great ideas people have about we should start this ministry
And we should do this ministry and we should go there and we should do that and we should do all this all these things
And here's the thing all of it is good
I'm not saying it's it's it's bad
But we need to realize that we must narrow our focus and try not to do too much notice what Paul said in Philippians 3 13
brethren I
Count on myself to have apprehended. He says this but this one thing I do
But this one thing I do
Paul says you know what? I've got one when it comes to minister. I got one focus
And obviously we have different areas of life
But in every area of life you ought to have a focus when it comes to being a husband
You ought to have this one thing I do when it comes to being a father this one thing
I do when it comes to being a pastor this one thing. This is my focus. This is the one thing
I'm trying to come Paul said but this one thing I do we must narrow the focus do not try to do too much see
Oftentimes often we fail because we're trying to do too much
trying to do too many things and
We don't ever accomplish anything
There's a story of Warren Buffett who's a successful
Investor he had an employee who he was trying to help and he told the employee
to write a list this employee wanted to succeed and be successful and
He told him I want you to write a list of 25 things you'd like to accomplish in the next 10 years
See employee went home and took a couple days and thought about it. Whatever wrote down list of 25 things
That he wanted to do in the next 10 years. He brought it back and it's best next meeting with his boss
He said I want you to sit down. I want you to take this red pen
I want you to circle the five most important things in that list of 25
You know take your time
He took his time and he went through the list of 25 things and he circled the five most important things
He said now here's what I want you to do for the next 10 years
Your goal is to put all your energy effort or your time or your focus or your resources
Into accomplishing those five things. That's what you need to do. Now. What do you think you need to do with the other 20?
Like I thought about and said well, I don't know
Maybe those are things I should work on on the side or on the weekends or when I've got some time
And he said no, those are the things that you are to never do under any circumstances
Because the enemy of best is not bad the enemy of best is good and
Oftentimes we have all these things we want to do and they're all good things
You know because the bad things we say well, no, I don't want to do that. No, I shouldn't do that
That's not a good thing. But that's not that's a bad thing
But when people bring you or when you accumulate I want to do all these things. They're all good things
But what's the best thing?
You could do right now
Look and when it comes to setting goals when it comes to achieving things you need to ask yourself. You need to ask yourself
You know, what should I say? Yes to but more importantly what should I say? No to
What's the no and sometimes it's not no for now?
You know, and I've taught this to to our church family in the past go to Galatians if you would Galatians chapter 6
The point is this there's so many things that you can do
There's so many things you can do
The Lord has allowed our church to have a little bit of influence and I'll tell you this I'm often being asked to
preach and to travel and to go to this event and that event and this conference and that conference and
I'll tell you I've had to learn to say no
I've had to learn to schedule things out. I
We have learned my wife and I have kind of figured out that you know
Something I can do is short trips once a month
with the kids and
That's what we've done. I'm traveling in January to preach in Texas. I'm going in February to preach in Idaho
I'm going in March to preach in LA. I'm going in April to preach in Atlanta
So it's kind of nice how it all worked out that way. No it all worked out that way on purpose. I
Could say yes to all sorts of things. I
Could get on a plane if I wanted to every week of my life and go do something good
And lose my kids in the process
And lose my family in the process
Here's all I'm saying is sometimes you just need to say no for now
You know they'll come a day in my ministry when my kids are grown and out of the house and married and serving the Lord
Hopefully and there'll be really no reason why
My wife and I can't get on a plane every week and go preach somewhere and go do something and be back for Sunday
And be back for Wednesday, but that's not the time now
That's not the 35 year old version of me now that can do that
so you need to figure out what's the best thing you should be doing with your time and
Learn to say no to a bunch of good things
Because people are constantly trying to put something on your plane as a pastor
I feel like they were constantly just we should do this and we should do this and we should do this sometimes
I feel like an ogre is like no no no no no
But this one thing we do this is what we're focusing on
This is what God has called us to do
Narrow your focus do not try to do too much the enemy of best is not bad the enemy of best is good number three
Look for actions that produce the greatest results
Look for actions that produce the greatest results Galatians 6 and verse 7 the Bible says this be not deceived
God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap there is a law and I preached about it in the
Past I won't take a lot of time
To go into but there's the 80-20 rule the 80-20 rule says this that 20% of your effort will produce 80% of you the results
This is true of everything
20% of your customers will produce 80% of your sales
20% of our church family will volunteer to do 80% of the work. It's just the way it works. It's a rely a reality of life
So if that's true, and it is then you should figure out. What's the 20%?
What's the 20% that must be done in order to accomplish the 80% look and like I've already used as an example for me in
my ministry, it's preaching I
Have you know you have these fear dreams where you have dreams that you the things that you're fearful of right?
Everybody has those types of dreams my my dream that I commonly have is that I show up to church on a Sunday morning
There's 180 people here the service about to start brother Matt walks up to start the service
And I suddenly realized I did not write a sermon
That's my fear dream, that's where you say deacon
Look at your actions that produce the greatest results
for a farmer look a farmer can do lots of things a
farmer can can break up the ground a
Farmer can set up sprinklers a farmer can set up fences a farmer can organize and whatever
But you know what if he never puts that seed in the ground
Nothing gonna happen and in fact if he doesn't take the time to set up the fences
He doesn't take the time to do all these other things, but he gets that seed in that ground
I mean the Bible says what's our man saw it that shall he also reap
so figure out
What produces the greatest results?
What produces the greatest results what action what action could you take that would help you be closer to your spouse?
What action could you take that would help you to spend more time with your children?
What action could you take that would help you become a better whatever you are?
Whatever you're doing be a better homeschool mom be a better pastor figure out look look at the actions that produce the greatest
results the 20% that produce the 80% and do that I
Was reading about a
Sales group and again, I like to preach these I like to read these effectiveness and goals and stuff like that
I like this kind of stuff. I don't preach this stuff all the time you get it once a year
Next week, we're starting the book of Esther verse by verse on Sunday morning, so we I hope you join us for that
But I was reading about this this article about a sales group that was launched a new region
I don't remember what they were so I think they were selling homes, but I don't think they were real estate
I think they were doing stuff with loans and stuff and
They set out this group this new sales group of five
Salesmen into this new region that the company had never been they were starting a new office
and they give them some time to prepare and
Four of the five salesmen
Went out to do all this market research analysis research and customer reviews and figure out you know the market and this and that or
whatever
And one guy decided something different
That guy sold 75,000 in the first year
250,000 the second year
500,000 the third fourth fifth year
Eventually this guy kind of became a rock star in this industry, and he's they're just like man. This guy's like the sales genius
So they decided to get the whole come together
They brought them all into one room and brought this guy in to speak and to ask the secret of his success
What is your secret to sales?
And nobody asked him beforehand what it was
He gets up in front of all his co-workers, and he says
What I do is every day. I sit at my desk. I have a little plastic cup
And that plastic cup there's 125 paper clips, and there's a second plastic cup. That's empty. I make a call I
Make a cold call no matter how it goes good or bad
I take a paper clip from one cup and I put it in the other cup and
I don't allow myself to finish the day till all the paper clips from one cup are in the other cup and
What I found is that if I make 125 cold calls a day
you become the best salesman in the company and
Here's all I'm saying he could have gone and done market research
He could have hired all these people to do surveys he could have done all this market analysis
But when he found this is in his in his industry that cold call was a 20% that produced the 80%
And
I would wager that in your life in your industry and whatever it is that you're doing there is something that brings greater results
Than anything else so look for that action that produces the greatest results and do it be not deceived
God is not mocked for whatsoever man, so with that shall he also reap
Here's number four. We'll finish up go to Leviticus if you would Genesis Exodus Leviticus Leviticus
Chapter 26 we're gonna go to Leviticus. We're gonna go to Proverbs and we'll finish up
I
Say pastor. Why would you take your time to preach this?
Why do you read all these books and try to formulate them and help us with this?
You know here's what I found if I can help you be a better husband. It'll make my life easier I
Can help you be a better wife if I can help if I can if I can trick you I can guilt you if I
Can you know harass you if?
If I can bribe you into reading the Bible
It'll make your life better, it'll make this church better
It'll make my life better
So I want you to have goals. I want you to get better. I want you to get better 1% every day 1% every week
When it comes to achieving goals what must we do number one figure out the steps needed to achieve your goals define them and refine
Them number two narrow your focus do not try to do too much number three look for the actions that produce the greatest results
Number four look for ways to compound your efforts
Look for ways to compound your efforts, but let me just say this without multitasking
Leviticus 26 look for a second and ye shall chase your enemies
But they shall fall before you by the sword
I want you to notice this verse that God says in verse 8 and five of you shall chase in hundred and
In hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword
Why don't you notice the Bible talks here about compounding efforts
You would think that you would need 100 soldiers to fight off 100 soldiers, but he says hey five of you can fight 100
You would think that you need 10,000 soldiers to fight 10,000 soldiers, but he says a hundred of you can fight 10,000
Look for ways to compound your efforts what I mean by that look for ways
You know the phrase goes like this killing two birds with one stone
Without multitasking
Look multitasking is impossible your mind your brain was not created to focus on more than one thing at a time
You say I want to spend time with my wife while working. No you're not
You can't
so what I'm what I'm talking about is not multitasking if
You're if you're if you have a task this one thing. I do
One thing at a time focus on one thing at a time
What I'm talking about is sometimes we can combine things that don't require focus both require focus
Here's an example
One of my goals for 2021 was to work on my Spanish
I'd like to
Create some Spanish content for our YouTube channel and for our ministry
But in order to do that I wanted to kind of brush up on my Spanish and work on my Spanish
I started looking at different ways that I could do that and looking at different
You know resources and things and I found things that I thought I liked and I thought man, that's good
You know I could do that
You know and it takes about 30 minutes a day and 30 minutes every day and blah blah
I started looking at my schedule, and I started realizing. I you know I just I just don't have 30 minutes
Every day to work on Spanish or to work on this or to work on that
So I just started thinking I asked the Lord Lord helped me to figure out how to do this you know and and and and
I thought about this
I'm doing nine chapters a day in the month of January. I'm reading nine chapters a day in
In the month of January so this year what I'm gonna. Do is. I'm gonna read nine chapters a day in Spanish I
Got myself a Spanish New Testament. I'm gonna read the new I'm gonna in fact
I'm gonna do all my Bible reading in Spanish this year, and I'm killing two birds with only one stone
I'm spending 30 40 minutes reading the Bible every day, and I'm spending 30 40 minutes working on my Spanish every day
Then I took it a step further. I have a goal of reading one secular book a month
I realized that's not very impressive my wife reads like one book a week my kids read like one book every several days
So and you know in my house. I'm the slow reader
But you know that's what I can do one book a month
Well, I started realizing some of these leadership books that I read and and and business books that I read they translate them into Spanish
So what I started doing is getting those books in Spanish
Now I'm getting my personal
Investment reading in 20 25 minutes every day and
Doing in Spanish. I'm working on my Spanish
Sometimes this is referred to as keystone habits or one
One action ripples into multiple parts of your life the point that I'm making is this look for ways to be more effective
I've
Used this example in the past
My wife and I we've tried to do our prayer time
You know while walking the dog or while being on the elliptical being on the elliptical doesn't require any energy or focus
On my mind so I can be on the elliptical for 20 30 minutes and get 20 30 minutes of prayer in
multitasking does not work with two tasks that require concentration, but sometimes sometimes you can compound your efforts and
Get more out of one task
Then then you would if you did those separately so look for ways to compound your efforts look for ways to make five
soldiers fight a hundred and
100 fight
10,000 go to proverb 16 will finish up
proverb 16
I've been preaching to you on the subject of how to set and achieve goals
Part one how to set goals four thoughts number one make your goal specific not general make your goals difficult yet attainable
Make your goals short-term not long-term make your goals small not big
Then part two how to achieve goals number one
Figure out steps the steps needed to achieve your goals define them and then refine them number two narrow your focus
Do not try to do too much number three look for the actions that produce the greatest result that 20%
number four look for ways to compound your efforts without
Multitasking now let me just say this
and all of that
Don't forget this involve God in your goal-setting and achievement process
Proverbs 16 verse 9 Bible says this a man's heart deviseth his way
But the Lord directed the steps
Don't walk out of here is why I say oh pastor. You got me fired up next time. I'll make five million dollars
That really what God wants you to do
Next year, I'm gonna you know do this
Do that
Hey make your goals spiritual goals
things that God wants for you to do a
Man's heart the visor this way
But the Lord directed his steps
Make sure that your goals are goals that God wants for you
Goals that that are gonna help your family goals are gonna help you
Grow spiritually goals that God would be happy with you doing
Paul said hey, I'm pressing toward the mark and the mark is Christ
The mark is God
Involve God in your soul getting setting achieving goal process, and you say I don't have any goal, okay
Let me just give you if you just have no imagination. Let me help you. Here's a great goal
Here's a great goal that you should have my wife, and I have this goal every year
To not miss one service of church the entire year
think how that would transform your life I
Mean Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night we have a goal even if we're out of town. We're on vacation
We find a church to go to
Well, I don't believe in this traveling while church time
Oh, I got a better deal if I flew out and you go to church on Sunday
Make that a goal
I'm not gonna miss church
I'm gonna be in church. Here's a goal read the Bible cover to cover. We've been talking about it. Here's a goal
Go soul winning every week
2021 I'm just trying to help you if you can't figure out some goals. Here's a goal become a tither
Look figure out some things that you're failing at that you're going to be better at and do those things
Involve God ask God ask your spouse ask me
We'll help you a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directed his steps
Go to Proverbs 13 and verse 12 finish up right here
Involve God and your goal setting and achieving process and let me just say this
You and your family will be happy
When you live a life of purpose by setting and accomplishing goals
Powers 13 verse 12 the Bible says this hope deferred maketh the heart sick
But when the desire cometh hope deferred maketh the heart sick
When you have when when a hope something you hoped what happened something you hope you would do got deferred
You didn't do it that that makes you sad
Makes the heart sick, but when desire when the desire cometh when you accomplish the goal. It is a tree of life
You know accomplishing goals is a sweet thing
Accomplishing goals is a good thing. It's a good thing for you. It's good thing for your family
Last year we told our kids
We told them hey, we want you guys to pray for us we're gonna we're gonna be trying to produce this book
We told him you know we're gonna do it late at night after you guys go to bed
We're gonna work on it things you know, but we're gonna. We're gonna do this
We want you guys to be aware of it
You know and when we were having them be involved and they were looking at the drawings and giving their input
And they were reading it for us, and you know all that stuff
And then we involved them when we finished the book and this isn't the book this is book two
But I remember when we got book one the first time the proof book not the big order
But the one order when we finished the book my wife
And I remember our kids kind of looking at it and one of our kids
Grab the book and said wow I can't believe that you guys did it
You set out to make a book and you did it
And you know for my wife, and I that was probably worth it if we never sold a book that was worth it right there
That
Our kids would look at parents who would say hey we have a goal
And then they watch this work towards it, and they watch this accomplish it
And I hope that my kids will set goals for themselves and work at it and accomplish them, and I hope you will too
Because none of us have attained
We've not yet apprehended
We can all get better
So don't waste this new year
Make sure you set and achieve goals. Let's pray Heavenly Father
Lord we do. Thank you
Because there is nothing that we can achieve. There's nothing that we can do. There's nothing that we do
without you
And Lord I pray you'd help us Lord. I pray you I pray for myself. I pray for my wife. I pray for our staff
Here at Verity Baptist Church that you would help us to set and achieve goals and Lord
I pray for our church family I
Pray that people wouldn't walk out of here thinking as a guy sermon
That they would really think
How can I get better? Where can I get better?
How can I accomplish more?
What what is the Lord trying to help me direct my paths in
Lord help us to take some time to set some goals
And help us to take some time to achieve those goals
Lord help us to be productive not for production's sake
But to bring honor and glory to your name in the matchless name of Christ we pray
Amen