It’s Time to Do the Work

“Be strong and brave, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or leave you until all the work for the Temple of the Lord is finished.”

(1 Chronicles 28:20)

Ever since I turned… oh, perhaps 55… I’ve felt a weird sense of urgency.

“Urgency” as in “time is running out”.

I feel as if I have these things I want to do during my life, but I’m stalled… and I’m running out of time.

Do you ever feel like that?

My life is half over (people in my family are really OLD when they die), and there is so much left to do. So many unfinished tasks.

This morning, during my daily Bible study, I accidentally (?) turned to First Chronicles instead of the assigned Second Chronicles… and I saw the above scripture. It felt like reassurance from God that He was with me until I finished the work He created me to do.

I just need to do the work.

Yesterday was the 4-year anniversary of my last day of a real job. As we were going to sleep last night, I mentioned that detail to my husband. I also whined about my lack of productivity these four years.

Encouraging man that he is, The Husband reminded me of several major feats I’ve accomplished: my ACSM personal trainer certification, a nutrition coach certification, reading through the Bible a couple of times, starting a nonprofit, applying (and getting) 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for a nonprofit I helped set up… and so on.

Unfortunately, less than half of the items my husband mentioned were MY goals.

I have a small notebook with lists of goals dating back to July 2007. As I looked through it this morning, I noticed I didn’t write any goals down for the first two years of my so-called “retirement”. A lot of unexpected things happened during that period.

Still… perhaps I would have been more successful at getting things done if I had written my goals on paper.

I got somewhat back on track in April 2012. As I look at the goals I wrote during 2012, I’ve accomplished several of them. One (a financial goal) was completely unexpected. That goal didn’t even seem realistic or achievable when I put it on the list.

I know the power of writing down goals. There have been times when I’ve felt myself being almost supernaturally drawn to the finish line with some of my high-priority goals… as if God was dragging me there.

I just need to get back into the habit.

Goals. They do a body good…

With that end in mind, this morning I wrote down ten SMART goals for the next twelve months.

(For more about SMART goal setting, you can read this post < click there. )

1) I live in a clutter-free home by 9/30/2015.

2) I lose 15 pounds by 9/30/2015.

3) I speak adequate conversational Spanish by 9/30/2015.

4) I earn $10,000 income through writing or consulting by 9/30/2015.

5) I complete the Tribe Writers course by 11/30/2014.

6) I am coaching/training at least six women by 9/30/2015.

7) I build my blog to 1000 readers by 9/30/2015.

8) I have my PAPHS (Physical Activity in Public Health Specialist) certification by 9/30/2015.

9) I have cleared my daily schedule and life in general of unnecessary clutter and commitments by 3/30/2015.

10) I spend at least one week vacation with my husband without internet distractions by 9/30/2015.

There. I put my goals in writing. Whew!

And they have deadlines… Because, as Michael Chabon says:

I have a deadline. I’m glad. I think that will help me get it done.

I have other goals… mostly for spending quality time with my daughter and husband… but those are dependent on their schedules and availability. I tried to limit the goals on this list to victories that are up to me and within MY control.

You may also notice these are “outcome” goals. I can get lots of future blogging mileage out of the “process” goals (i.e. “I will exercise 5 days per week.” “I will eat clean 90% of the time.” “I will limit my Facebook to 1 hour per day.” ” I will blog three days per week.”). Look for the steps I take to get where I want to be in future blog posts…

Do you have written goals? If not, why not? If so, share at least one of them in the comments… C’mon. It’s painless. I just shared mine for the world to so. What’s the worst that can happen? 😉