Do you have personal goals?
I don’t think a lot of people do. For some reason youth ministry, and youth pastors get lumped into a stereo type of being unorganized, and non-productive. The sad reality is that more often than not the stereo type is true and we fall into it. I meet pastors who don’t have plans, and are wandering because of it.
This year make a plan, and then monthly, and weekly glance over it to see how you are doing. One of the best ways to make a plan is to look at resources. My favorite resource is Michael Hyatt’s Life Plan and I wrote a blog post about it called, Why I created a life plan (and why you should too!.
One of the best resources of Michael Hyatt’s Life Plan is that he gets you thinking about the end goal. If you start with the end goal in mind you will be able to plan a year to live how you want, and hit the goals you want. It is a great way to visualize how you want to be and lead. I would love to share my life plan but it is way too personal!
With that said, I want to share a few goals for this year. I wrote a post last year that I loved called, How to get ready for 2012, which we are going to modify this post off of.
Here are a few of my goals for 2013.
1. Rediscover my Awe of God. I have been reading this book called,Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry
a. Having a Bible Reading Plan. I personally love this. I do use a Bible Reading Plan from youversion.com. Last year, my goal was to do a Bible reading plan with new journalling Bible. The result was really cool. All the pages on the sides were marked up.
b. Memorize Scripture. I haven’t done this in sooooo long. I am going to fighter verse the app. I have used it a bit, and I already love it.
c. Retreats. Taking time away to spend in prayer. The goal is to retreat 4 times a year to spend at least 48 hours alone with God.
2. Love others. I want the people I work with, my leaders, and the students I lead, to know that I truly couldn’t do the ministry I do without them. Here is how I am going to do it.
a. Write at least 3 thank you/encouragement cards each week.
b. Throw parties at the end of every ministry calendar celebrating what God has done.
c. Personally have my leaders in my home with my family getting to know me.
3. Training the brain. I don’t want to become complacent in my life, or my ministry. I see pastors all the time who are outdated and stale. I don’t want to be one of those guys. I want to stay sharp and fresh. Here is how I am going to do that!
a. Go to at least 2 conferences this year. I want to go to Simply Youth Ministry Conference, and The Resurgence Conference. I would love to also go to the Canadian National Youth Worker Conference. This is one way to staying fresh. I love being away with other youth pastors. It is such a blast!
b. Do 2 courses on reformed theological seminary through itunes. I have been out of school for 6 years, and it is important to stay on it. I am going to listen to a preaching course from Tim Keller!
c. Read 52 books this year. I think this is doable. I was trying to keep track of all the books I read last year, and I think it is over.
Those are a few of the goals that I have for this year. What goals do you have? I would love to hear from you to add to the list!
