Saturday, January 8, 2022

Do Your 2022 Goals Reflect Your Values?


by Beth K. Vogt @BethVogt

My husband Rob and I went to Hawaii for the first time in December. He attended a medical conference, and I went along, well, for Hawaii. And for time with wonderful husband, too, of course.

During the five days of Rob’s conference, I had something I rarely experience: time to myself.

Rob left for his workshops each morning by 7:30. Most days, he finished by 12:30. That means I had five hours alone every day. Five days x Five hours = 25 hours to myself. 

Wow.

My original intention was to write, write, write during all those glorious hours.

That’s not what happened.

The 25 hours were about giving myself time to think. 

The 25 hours were about giving myself time to listen to God.

Each morning I watched one or two brief videos to jumpstart my focus for the day. Then I thought. I prayed. Thought and prayed some more. 

The biggest change that occurred during my time in Hawaii? 

I took the time to ask myself what my life values were. I narrowed my values down to faith, relationships, health, and identity.

And now, because it is a new year, we get to the word “goals.”

You’ve probably heard about how important it is to make SMART goals:
  • Specific 
  • Measurable 
  • Achievable
  • Relevant
  • Time-Bound
Toward the end of the week, when I did lay down some concrete goals for the first three months of 2022, I didn’t aim for a single SMART goal. No. Instead, each goal I wrote down was based on one of my values.

During those 25 hours of uninterrupted prayer and thought, one thing became clear: As I selected goals based on my life values of faith, relationships, health, and identity, my objectives were more meaningful. I was more committed to each decision because what I’m spending my time and efforts on are linked to my core beliefs.

What about you? Consider the goals you’ve set for yourself this year. Do they reflect your life values?

TWEETABLE

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored nine contemporary romance novels and novellas, The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releasers May 2020. Other books in the women’s fiction series include Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.

11 comments:

  1. Beth,

    Thank you for telling us about your time of listening to God instead of writing. I've had these experiences but haven't written about them. This God-directed time of listening is precious.

    Terry
    author of Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition)

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  2. Good morning, Terry.
    I would love to hear your story, too. It was interesting how God redirected my plan to write. As writers, we're all about the writing, yes? But sometimes we need time away to pray and to plan -- to listen to God before we put words on paper.

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  3. Beth, Thank you for this powerful post about seeking and listening to God as you made plans for the new year. Would you mind sharing a specific writing goal or two and which values they link to?

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    2. I was so surprised when God indicated all the free time was not going to be about writing. I limited my values to four: faith, health, relationships, and identity. Identity includes writing because God created me to be creative -- to write. So my goal to write a new free novella for my newsletter subscribers? That ties into my goal of identity. Also, my relationship goal? One subset of that goal is connecting with my readers -- so social media goes there. I can't call "social media" a value, but I do value connecting with my readers. So when I write my blog or do my Facebook Lives on Monday and Friday -- that ties into my value of relationships.

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    3. Thank you so much. Those examples help. God bless you in '22!
      Jo Grey

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    4. You're welcome, Jo. May God lead you in the new year!

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  4. 5 hours x 5 days in a location with no chores/homemaking required. And in HAWAII?!? That sounds like a taste of Heaven. :)
    Now you've set the bar high in 2022. Bucket List Miracles..... lol

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    1. It was such an unexpected blessing -- and I thanked God for it every single day I was there.

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  5. This is so good, Beth! Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Crystal, I hope you have wonderful start to 2022!

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