I’m not much of a soccer guy, or as my Brazilian friends would say, futebol. I never grew up playing the sport, and even my kids didn’t play for very long. However, I know that the best call in sports is when a professional or national soccer player scores a goal. The announcers go crazy – GoGoGoGoGoGoooooaaaaal! You’ve heard it before. It’s amazing.
I’ve never seen a hole-in-one in person, but I have seen people celebrate holes-in-one – pretty cool to see those celebrations on the golf course and pretty close to the celebration after a goal is scored in soccer. I have been around some people that have scored big deals at work – they can celebrate hard, too! I love watching the celebration at a graduation ceremony as students receive their well-earned diplomas. What am I getting at? Goals in sports and in life are celebrated. The big ones are celebrated hard.
So, that brings me to this week’s topic and question – What is the goal of your life? Leader, I’m sure you set goals for yourself and have bucket lists of explorations and expectations for your life. What are they? Leaders can come up with some incredible BHAGs in life. BHAG, by Jim Collin’s definition, is Big Hairy Audacious Goals. I like to think of BHAGs as Big HOLY Audacious Goals. So, what are yours?
Goals eventually drive you to habits and tasks. Habits and tasks fill your mind and your calendar. What fills your mind and calendar is what you wake up thinking about each morning. I submit to you this – evaluate your personal goals and bucket lists. If your spiritual growth and spiritual leadership are not at the top of those lists, your lists are, at best, incomplete. What you want each morning when you get up will determine who you become every day.
Again I say it – goals eventually drive you to habits and tasks. Habits and tasks fill your mind and your calendar. What fills your mind and calendar is what you wake up thinking about each morning. What you want each morning when you get up will determine who you become every day.
See, here’s the deal – when God is your goal, everything else falls into place. That’s why pursuing and growing in the Lord is essential to your leadership and life. Essential Godly Leaders know that God is the source of life and the goal of life. You were created to have a relationship with God and to honor Him. What you do, what you sell, and who you are at work are great – God has given you those opportunities and platforms. But, who you are is God’s son or daughter. Who you are is a member of the Kingdom of God. A relationship with God through Jesus needs to be your goal and at the top of your bucket list. Because when God is your goal, everything else falls into place.
Essential Godly Leadership is realizing that spiritual growth and pursuit of God need to be the goal of life and the goal of each day. Our happiness and peace aren’t what we’re called to or what we’re promised. We are called to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment [goals] greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).
I leave you with two takeaways:
- Set your mind and your personal goals on the next-level pursuit of God – more consistency in your daily time with Him, greater use of the spiritual disciplines, leading your family and relationships spiritually to a new level, etc.
- Write your goals down so as you see them being accomplished, you can celebrate and praise God for scoring in the Essential Godly Leadership game of life!
When God is your goal, everything else falls into place.