Achieving those Goals

What happens when I don't make my year-end goal?

Once again, I'm fighting perfectionism. With 2017 quickly approaching, it looks like I'm going to be just shy of my 2016 SMART goal to write twenty-four blog posts in a year. The hardest part is that I'm trying to decide what to do about it. Am I going to try to sneak in four more posts? Or am I going to blow it off and beat myself up for not making my goal?

As a perfectionist, I'm battling the fight of perfect. I can't help, but to fight emotions and feelings of the desire for accomplishment and the success of "checking that off my list". Yet as a girl leading a busy life, my perspective is slightly and slowly changing and instead of the "what I didn't do" I want to take a moment to look at what I did do.

I did manage to write eighteen blog posts this year since February 2016. I also committed to paying for my own website and domain. I wrote my first-ever eulogy, thousands of emails, a five-day prayer devotion booklet for my girlfriends, countless carefully crafted Instagram posts, many thank you cards, three presentations, prepared one breakout session, eleven meeting agendas, weeks and weeks of Bible study introductions, and four Evite invitations. (Maybe that last one was a stretch, but I've been writing!) I'm not going to meet my SMART goal for writing, but I do have a lot to look at when I take a step back from staring that goal in the face. It's all about perspective, right?

What about you? What's got you hung up? Do you need a little room for perspective?

I don't want to make excuses for not setting and meeting goals; I want to make excuses for all of us fighting (and losing to!) perfectionism. We ain't perfect here and we wasn't ever gonna be.

 But, what if we were a little nicer to ourselves in celebrating even our smallest victories?

It's the motive and heart behind the goal. Why am I setting this goal? What am I trying to achieve? What can be learned? How can this better benefit those around me? Is this going to make a positive difference?

Those are the real questions that make our goals worth achieving. As I continue to write, I'll keep setting goals, work next year to make my twenty-four and keep working towards that big goal of writing a book one day! The reason why I write in the first place is to encourage and inspire others with God's love. Am I doing that? I sure hope so. 

Let's cheer on on each other as we set goals and work to accomplish them. Let's be there to rally and encourage when they don't match up. Help me to commit to persevere and cheer on the journey, not just the destination and the goals, but the people too!

Cheers y'all!

xoxo

Jes

 

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:14-16  ‭

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When I'm Weak

As an avid CrossFit enthusiast, I’ve learned to do pull-ups, squat cleans, clean and jerks, climb ropes, flip tires and now know words like WOD, AMRAP, and RFT. I’ve also learned that I’m physically stronger than I ever thought. The physical fitness has brought on a mental fitness where I’ve learned how to push beyond the muscle fatigue to meet (or beat!) the workout goal.

However in all of the physical fitness, there have been a few times when I wanted to quit. I wanted to literally quit the workout, skip the next exercise rep and walk away. In life, there have also been times that I wanted to quit the job, stop the work, forget the responsibility, leave the commitment and simply walk away.

Today’s WOD (Workout of the Day) was a 20 minutes AMRAP where you complete as many rounds as possible in the allotted time. Going into the workout, I had made a mental note to complete at least four rounds. I started off pretty strong, slowed down some in the third round, and pushed through the fourth to realize that I still had four minutes left on the time clock!

“Holy smokes, are you kidding me? I thought, I can’t make it through one more round. But I can’t sit around and wait for the time to expire either! “Lord, give me strength to finish.” I whispered while chalking my hands to jump up to the pull-up bar once more. As sweat was dripping down my face and my arm muscles were starting to burn, I barely busted out the last few pull-ups. From there I went onto next exercise and whispered again, “Give me strength, Lord.” as I took in a deep breath to finish the last set of lunges just before the buzzer went off.

I made it! Feeling quite accomplished and completely worn out, I laid down on the cool concrete to recover.  I had just complete five rounds--one more round than I thought that I could to start. As I caught my breath, I felt as though I heard God’s voice whisper in my heart, “For when you are weak, I am strong.” a Bible verse that I recognized.

My mind raced as I thought about the times in my life when I didn’t think I was strong enough to finish. When I kept seeing no while waiting for a yes, when my guy walked out and the heartache was fierce, when my boss couldn't see the worth of my work and perfection was defeating, when my commitment to teach stood in the way of the evening of fun or my fight to stand firm when the right thing wasn't cool. 

In those times, I had whispered the same prayer. While God's strength didn't always change my circumstances, it gave me the confidence to have faith in His power and persevere in His truth. It allowed me to finish even when I was stretched thin. God's strength changed my attitude [perspective] and gave a peace in my heart do the work, bear the disappointment or carry on through. 

I’ve said many times, “God must think I’m strong.” as I endured trial after trial, but the truth is, He is the One who is strong. I'm simply the one who asks for His power. Because when I am weak, He is strong. 

xoxo

Jes

P.S. Where do you need His strength today?

"I can do this through Christ who gives me strengths. " Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

“But The Lord said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12: 9 & 10b (NIV) 

"I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us. " Philippians 3:14 (NIV) 

Life's Grand Slams

I don't ever want to miss another bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, walk-off-grand-slam again!  

Friday night my friend, Jess and I were at the Padres game. The company was great, but game was pretty long, the score was tied, we were tired and things didn't look too good for the home team. Little did we know that after we left with the score tied at the bottom of the eighth, a guy who had already struck out four times, would become the MVP with a walk-off grand slam to win the game!  And we missed it!! 

We made it through most of the game, but somehow missed the best part. How many times in life has that happened to you? I think about a few specific times that I cut myself short by not seeing a project to the end or halfheartedly finished a task early because I was tired. Maybe you're still waiting for the "one" to come along or you're tired of doing "what's right" and still not getting a look for promotion. Or is that you've tried to help a family member or friend, but it's still not working. Could it be the leadership role you're in is harder than you thought? Whatever that thing is, I encourage you to persevere.

Ask God to continue the good work that He's started. Lean into His Truth so that you'll find strength not give up. Let's not cut ourselves short by settling for anything less than God's best. Because after four strike-outs, there might just be the greatest grand slam ever. Don't quit before it's your time to get there! 

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ 

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬

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