The three main reasons individuals struggle to change are:
There is a caveat with this article! Bear in mind that there are some people with certain personality types who will have very adverse reactions to this style of time management. Please be sensitive to these people and only apply this technique to those who are not naturally performing well at the tasks at hand. Do not make this mandatory for everyone. Remember the guiding rule: "Just enough, and just in time!"
1. They don’t really see the need to change. They feel as though others (externally) are "imposing" the change upon them.
2. A lack of clear, specific, and measurable goals.
3. There is little or no support (training, backup, and accountability) in reaching those goals.
Addressing these issues will increase your ability to succeed in life. (See also a related article on SMART Goal Setting for Following Jesus.)
1. Your own desire to achieve the change, whether out of love, gratitude, or willing obedience, must drive it. You don’t have to achieve it alone, but the desire must start with you (internally). Your greatest strength and power to change will also come from within if you ask the Holy Spirit to help you achieve these goals. (You have a very powerful helper in the Holy Spirit if your goals are aligned with those of God’s.)
2. and 3. A.I.M./T4T's purpose is to assist you in creating clear, specific, and measurable goals. They offer many layers of support, from moral support to practical training. These systems have a very high degree of love and accountability automatically built into them. They are also very biblical. Trust in them, as Christ is in the centre of them. If you are still having trouble with these group/mentor settings, then there is an individual tool that a friend, DaveK, gave me called SMART that you can add to AIM/T4T as long as it does not take away too much of your focus. Next, we'll cover SMART.
A helpful acronym to remember when setting goals is: S. M. A. R. T.
| Examples: | |
| Specific | Set goals like “I will try to witness to one person a fortnight and disciple one person or group per fortnight.". |
| Measurable | The goal was not "I will try to witness to someone, or I will try to disciple someone." It assigned me a number and a time limit. (e.g., the time limit was for one person or group, and it was set within a fortnight.) |
| Achievable | Make it easy on yourself. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Start small and work upward. When Japan began its foray into manufacturing, the outlook was dire. Everyone laughed and said they would never buy any junk that came out of Japan. They soon conquered the world of manufacturing by implementing a “1% improvement rule” each year. Each year, they had to improve every aspect of business by just 1%. They built on the 1% improvements from previous years. Soon, there was no one who could touch them! Start with, say, one person who witnessed and trained a group. As your skills improve, this number will probably grow. Keep pushing yourself a little bit outside of your comfort zone, though, without being silly. |
| Realistic | You might get sick, go on holidays, or have a family emergency. So, incorporate a safety margin into your time frames. For instance, you may have stated a weekly time frame, but consider adding a fortnight as a buffer to avoid setting yourself up for failure and defeat. |
| Time based | Again, put a real-time frame on it. Aim to get out there and try to witness to someone on your people list or do a prayer walk every fortnight. Meet with your mentor every fortnight on a Wednesday to discuss what you have learned, what the Lord has been doing in your life, and practice your skills. If your goals are realistic, then put in some real effort to stick to whatever time frame you come up with. |
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