About five years ago I came up with some life goals at an Inward Bound retreat. I’ve accomplished some of them, but by-and-large, I feel like they have gathered dust. But I’m in the process of dusting them off; updating them; and expanding the list.

By the time I’m done I’ll have 100 Life Goals or 100 Lions to Chase. Just thought I’d share my goal setting process. I don’t have a formula. But I hope it inspires everybody in the evosphere to set some goals.

My goals fall into five categories:

P Goals–Physical
F Goals–Family
E Goals–Experiential
T Goals–Travel
V Goals–Vocational

I don’t have spiritual goals, because all of them are spiritual. More on that in a minute!

Part of my inspiration is the simple fact that I’m tired of using other people as examples of goal setting! I’ve always been inspired by Jon Goddard–adventurer extraordinaire. And I love the list Tedd Leonsis came up with. But they’re them and I’m me. I need to inspired enough to set my own goals!

I know this for sure: you probably won’t accomplish the goals you don’t set. I’ll expand on this in another post, but goal setting is being a good steward of our reticular activating system. When you set a goal, your mental radar begins to notice anything and everything related to that goal.

I feel like my mantra right now is: play offense. And setting goals is a great way of doing that. At some point, most of us stop creating the future and start repeating the past. We stop living out of right-brain imagination and we start living out of left-brain memory. We live goal-less lives that don’t really require any faith!

Part of the reason I’m working on these goals during our ten-day Pentecost Fast is because I don’t want these goals to be man-u-factured. I really want each one to be an expression of stewardship. I need physical goals because they challenge me to stay in shape. And it is one way I take care of God’s temple. And I love traveling, but it is also a spiritual experience for me. I’m exploring God’s creation. And each stamp in my passport is good stewardship!

One final thought: our goal lists ought to be as unique as our fingerprint. And not everybody is as goal-oriented as everybody else. But goals are a form of faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for. That is also the definition of a spiritual goal.

I’ll continue sharing thoughts on goals and goal-setting.

Chase the Lion!