The most intimidating place for a writer to be is in front of a blank computer screen or empty sheet of paper. Inevitably one of two things happens. Either your mind races with ideas and you can’t seem to narrow them down enough to write, or (the more likely scenario) your thoughts mirror the emptyness in front of you. The blank slate can be terrifying both in writing and in life. We are all at the beginning of a new year full of possiblities. Our minds race with dreams and goals, but how do we begin? Where should we focus first? What if we fail at our resolutions again? Is goal setting even necessary? Is it better not to try at all?

Um…

I understand well the fear that accompanies a new beginning. 2013 for me is the beginning of a new year in a new city, a new church, a new ministry, (hopefully) a new job, new friends, a new home, and the release of a new book. It’s exciting, but with each new thing comes a mountain of doubt. What if I fail? What if I can’t find a job? What if my book release is a flop?

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

So how do you and I overcome the blank slate so we can begin chasing our dreams?

We begin by beginning.

Pastor Mark Baterson says in his book, The Circle Maker, (read my review of the book here) that the keys to seeing prayers answered and dreams come true is to “dream big, pray hard and think long.” He calls goals “dreams with deadlines” and recommends…

Ten Steps to Setting Goals for Your Life:

1. Start with prayer. “If you set goals in the context of prayer, there is a much higher likelihood that your goals will glorify God, and if they don’t glorify God, then they aren’t worth setting in the first place.”
2. Check your motives. “If you set selfish goals, you would be better off spiritually if you didn’t accomplish them.”
3. Think in categories. “My goals are divided into five categories: family, influential, experiential, physical and travel. The obvious omission is a category for spiritual goals, but that is by intention. All of my goals have a spiritual dimension to them.”
4. Be specific. “If a goal isn’t measurable, we have no way of knowing whether we’ve accomplished it.”
5. Write it down. “If you haven’t written down your goals, you haven’t really set them.”
6. Include others. “Nothing cements a relationship like a shared goal.”
7. Celebrate along the way. “When God answers a prayer, throw a party. We should celebrate with the same intensity with which we pray.”
8. Dream big. “Big goals turn us into big people.”
9. Think long. “If you want to dream until the day you die, you need to set goals that take a lifetime to achieve. And it’s never too late to start.”
10. Pray hard. “Goal setting begins and ends with prayer.”

He sums up his list with these two powerful paragraphs:

The sad truth is that most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do planning the rest of their life. That’s poor stewardship of right-brain imagination. Goal setting is good stewardship. Instead of letting things happen, goals help us make things happen. Instead of living by default goals help us live by design. Instead of living out of memory, goals help us live out of imagination.

Goal setting begins and ends with prayer. God-ordained goals are conceived in the context of prayer, and prayer is what brings them to full term. You need to keep circling your goals in prayer, like the Israelites circled Jericho. As you circle your goals, it not only creates God-ordained opportunities; it also helps us recognize God-ordained opportunities.

So as we finish up the first month of the year, I challenge you to dedicate your blank slate to Christ and His purposes for your life and then plan accordingly. Let’s determine to live for Christ out of our imaginations and accomplish great things for His glory in 2013!

Have you made a list of life goals? How has goal setting been beneficial to you? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo credit: Carlos Fenollosa / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA