UMC20231026 - Stretch Goals¶
In his book Smarter, Better, Faster, Charles Duhigg writes about the ingredients for a successful life. One of the chapters that stuck out to me was on the concept of stretch goals. These are ambitious goals that are outside of your current abilities and hence "they stretch you" and grow you. He explains that there is an art to choosing these goals however, as you want them to stretch you, not break you. You need to find the balance on how far outside your abilities the goals should be.
I am in my early 30s and it is at this point in my life where I have been thinking about how to build a career long term. What is it that I want to do in the world? What is my definition of success? How do I want to bring purpose into my life? And so the idea of stretch goals really excites me. But I have been genuinely struggling to put any down. I do not think that this is a trivial exercise that can be done in an hour on a Sunday afternoon.
Jesus' first words in the Gospel of John are: "What do you want?" He often pointed his followers on an inward journey of discovery. There is a tremendous power in articulation, in wrestling with the God energy in your heart, the passions that have been placed in you and forming them into succinct articulated stretch goals. But this takes significant time and energy.
Have you spent time recently reflecting on what God wants you to do next? What is it that has been placed in your heart? Are the goals that you are setting easy to accomplish? Or are they large enough to stretch and grow you?
Ask. Seek. Knock.
Love, Cliff