Living a purposeful life can change the way you think, act and behave, and can have a huge impact on those around you. Setting meaningful goals and sticking to them will help direct how you spend your time and resources.Â
Are you wandering around aimlessly in your life or are you living a purposeful life? My morning devotion compared living a life without a goal to trying to walk a straight line on the beach, one step ahead of the other. When you look back, you’ll probably be surprised by how crooked the path is.
But if you fix your eyes on a focal point in the distance (e.g., a goal) and walk towards it, your path will point straight to the distant focal point.
This New Year, I am setting a few goals for myself and hanging them up where I can see them daily.
Today, I’m sharing one of my goals with you in the hope that you will be inspired to come up with your own personal goal. This is not a one year goal – it is a long-term goal, one that I plan on working on for this year and beyond:
MY GOAL: “To make a difference in someone’s life by: (1) showing someone they are loved when they feel unloved, (2) meeting someone at their deepest need, (3) developing deeper relationships/connections and having meaningful conversations.”
Having specific goals can help guide our decisions, thoughts and behavior. It can also help prioritize what to focus on, who to focus on, and how we use my time. Without any goals, we have a tendency to wander around aimlessly and waste much precious time and energy. Even with goals, it’s easy to get distracted and lose sight of our goals, so it is important to stop and recheck our paths frequently.
Imagine how impactful our lives could be if we lived a purposeful life with meaningful goals and stay aligned with them.
I believe we were created with a purpose in life. Yes, God wants us to enjoy life, but He also wants us to use the gifts and talents He’s given us to serve those around us and make this world a better place.
I encourage you to come up with your own goal(s). Let’s make every day count.
Record your goals – write them down and place them in plain view to remind you each day of what you are working towards.
Take time at the beginning of each day to think through your day before you begin it – be thoughtful about your day on purpose.
I look forward to sharing little and big things that come my way as I put into practice living a purposeful life. I’d love to hear your goals and any stories you have to share that relate to these goals.
Books on Living a Life on Purpose:
Seize the Day: Living On Purpose And Making Every Day Count, Joyce Meyer
The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren
Living Forward: A Proven Plan To Stop Drifting And Get The Life You Want, Michael Hyatt & Daniel Harkavy
7 Easy Healthy Eating Tips and Recipe Ideas + Lots More #HealthyLiving #Hangout
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What a wonderful goal, Jeanette! How inspiring!
I spent some time yesterday as well thinking through what I wanted to accomplish this year. I set two goals making sure to take the time thinking about why and how I intend to accomplish them. I also intentionally set a completion date that WASN’T December 31st.
I also purchased the Living Forward book and read The Purpose Driven Life quite a few years ago. It would be a great idea to pull that off my bookshelf and read it again. Did you enjoy the Living Forward book?
I’m glad you enjoyed this post Lynn. At the life stage I’m at, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I want the second half of my life to look like. I want to live an intentional life that is worthwhile and helps make a difference in this world. I read Living Forward last year and wrote my first Life Plan at that time. I am re-reading Living Forward right now and will be updating my Life Plan. I found Michael Hyatt’s approach interesting and different – well worth reading.
Thank you for the response, Jeanette. Sounds like I need to get to work on my Life Plan!
Have a great week,
Lynn
Writing down a life plan definitely helps guide me in my relationships, especially the ones I want to improve on.
Jeanette,
I just read the article about you in the NC Advertiser. What an inspiration you are! Yesterday, I finished radiation for neck cancer. The school where I work had an endless food chain to keep my family fed during my two surgeries and radiation. I have been so blessed. I will try some of the smoothies you recommended since I still am eating soft foods, but I need high protein options. Do you have any recommendations about how to keep eating even with the loss of taste?
I think I remember you from East School when my older daughter, Kendall, was there . She is now 24 and I think one of your sons was in her grade. Thank you for all you do for cancer patients! Love makes the world go round!
Hi Katrina – so nice to hear from you. I do recognize you! So glad you have such strong support in your school, it is so important. Try increasing protein in smoothies with Greek yogurt, organic whey protein, hemp seeds and/or peanut butter
. Pureed lentil soup would be another option you might enjoy as a source of protein (room temperature). Lentil hummus might also be something to try as lentils are very high in protein. Rebecca Katz who wrote The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen has a great “toolkit” she suggests for loss of tastebuds: http://www.rebeccakatz.com/blog/fighting-cancer-with-food Also, foods with umami might perk up your tastebuds – Magic Mineral Broth with chicken bones or beef bones thrown in (seaweed has umami too) – this can be drunk cold. Some people have told me they enjoyed clam broth when they were going through treatment. Lemon juice can also perk up tastebuds. Also, using a plastic spoon can reduce the metal taste. Finally, cancer patients have told me that eating smaller, more frequent meals really helps. Best wishes and let me know if I can help with anything else.