"Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives. A life that gets out of balance is much like a car tire that is out of balance. It will make the operation of the car rough and unsafe. Tires in perfect balance can give a smooth and comfortable ride. So it is with life. The ride through mortality can be smoother for us when we strive to stay in balance. Our main goal should be to seek "immortality and eternal life" (Moses 1:39). With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?"
We can begin in Luke 2:52 which say's: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." This scripture gives us 4 primary areas of focus to live a balanced life. This scripture mentions wisdom or intellectual, stature or physical, favour with God or spiritual, and with man or social. So, setting intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social goals will help us be better rounded sons and daughters of God.
Here are some helpful fundamental things to remember which I found about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Specific- Setting a specific goal has a better chance of being accomplished than a general one. Example: A general goal would be, I want to get in shape. A specific goal would be, I will join a gym and work out 3 days a week.
Measurable- President Thomas S. Monson has said, "Where performance is measured, performance improves." Establish criteria for measuring your progress toward your goals. Writing in a journal daily or reporting to a family member or friend are some ways to keep track of your daily progress.
Achievable- Remember to set goals that are attainable, goals that we can realistically reach. We won't stick to those goals that seem out of our reach.
Relevant- Set goals based on their order of importance to you in your life. Also, make sure the goal is relevant to what you can control. For example, don't set a goal that William will go to the prom with you. You cannot control what William does. Instead, your goal can be, I will ask William to the prom.
Timely- A goal must have a definitive time frame to be accomplished. A good example of this is when President Hinckley challenged the Church in August of 2005 to read the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the year. That gave many people the motivation to up their scripture study performance because of it. If President Hinckley had just said, read the Book of Mormon, it would not have had the same effect.
It is said that to make something a habit we need to do it 21 days straight without missing a day. Here are a few book marks, and calendars that may be useful to you in setting and keeping track of your goals for the new year. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!
One quick story.......On Fast Sunday there was a brother that bore his testimony in our ward that had a good message that I took to heart and I thought I would share it with everyone. This brother said that he had been diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago and had been taking insulin everyday since then. One day he was outside and stopped to pray about his health. All of a sudden he said that he heard an audible voice say to him, "What are you willing to do!" From that day on he began to make little changes and before he knew it the doctor needed to cut his medicine in half. Today he is completely off his insulin and does not need to take it any longer.
This made me think of the many times I ask Heavenly Father for things and drop the ball by not doing my part in meeting Him halfway. May we all take this message to heart as we prayerfully set goals for the new year. Remember the Lord's promise in Ether 12:27,
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." WE CAN DO IT!
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