Financial Freedom Series: How to Set Goals

Welcome back to our Financial Freedom Series, where we’re looking into God’s Blueprint for Building Wealth and Managing Your Money Well!

We dive into biblical principles and cutting-edge money management wisdom to help you…

• Honor God with your money
• Build wealth
• Shrink your debt
• And build toward financial freedom

“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce  wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:18) 

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5) 

“I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8) 

“The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.”  (Proverbs 21:20) 

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs  22:7) 

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8) 

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12) 

It is your time to dare to dream. 
It is time to reset your goals. 
It is time to rekindle your passion. 
It is time to aim high. 
It is time to attempt great things with God. 
It is time to live on purpose. 
It is time to reignite your vision. 
It is time to be fruitful. 
It is time to get positioned for God to 
catapult you into your destiny. 

Your best days are ahead of you.

Today, I want to share an extract from my new book, DARE TO DREAM. 

Through my community and business interactions, I meet people from all walks of life. One thing is clear: people from both the uppermost and gutter-most ends of society have stopped dreaming. Many have lost vision, purpose, passion, and hope. Many are just going through the motions, feeling disillusioned and down. 

I believe it is time to lift your head and dream again. With God’s help, you can turn your life around. You can get back up. He is the way maker. He can fix what is broken. This is the reason I have written this book – to help you get your life back with a new vision and to see you prosper.

The book is broken down into three parts: 

Part one: RISE UP

The aim of part one is to encourage you to dare to dream and to lift the lid. Using powerful illustrations and principles from the Word of God, this section will motivate you to formulate a fresh vision, overcome setbacks, and arise.  

Part two: THE PRACTICE

This section will give you a guide to help you articulate your dreams and develop a simple step-by-step strategy and an easy-to-follow blueprint to make it easy for you to stick to your plans until you see your dreams come to pass.  (This includes a goal-setting action plan and strategy to make it easy for you to go after your dreams and actually achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality. (I have used this strategy over the years and can tell you it works! With the simple system, I have dealt with debt, achieved financial goals or buying a home and cars, covered tertiary education, overseas holidays, ministry goals, and even lost 21 kgs since the start of the year.)

Part three: FINISHING STRONG

The book’s final part will help you overcome any limiting beliefs that may be sabotaging your dreams and holding you back from reaching your destiny. You will also be spurred on to keep moving forward, go after your dreams, and press on until your dreams become a reality.

If you want to put God’s principles to go after your God-ordained destiny, I’d highly recommend checking out DARE TO DREAM…

Today, I want to share about…

YOUR GOAL SETTING PLAN

A Step-by-Step Plan to Turn Your Dreams into Reality

It is important to set goals. Without setting goals, you will drift aimlessly and never achieve your hopes and dreams. 

I know many who have set out to achieve their goals and dreams but have stopped short. People let go of their dreams for several reasons. Sometimes it is an obstacle. Sometimes, it is a lack of planning. Sometimes, life happens.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true there is life and joy.” —Proverbs 13:12

When dreams don’t come to pass, they can leave you broken, frustrated, and hopeless. But when dreams come to fruition, there is life and joy. 

In this chapter, I want to share a simple step-by-step GOAL-SETTING strategy with you. It will help you stay on course. I have personally used this process many times, and I can assure you it works. If applied, this simple step-by-step goal-setting strategy will help you stay on course. 

Today is the day of new beginnings. Today is the day you Lift the Lid. Today is the day you can set goals, dare to dream, and put plans in place to build towards a brighter future. 

You cannot do much about your past. What has happened is gone! You can, however, do something about your future…

You don’t have to be average or ordinary. When you dare to dream and start setting goals, you set yourself up for an extraordinary future.

IT IS NOW TIME TO GET STARTED!

Here are some Practical Steps to help you achieve your God-ordained Dreams.

STEP 1: WHAT?

I want to suggest a few ideas to help you set your goals: 

WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS

As mentioned in a previous chapter, I want to encourage you to write down your goals. 

“And the Lord answered me and said, ‘Write down the vision clearly on tablets, so that even a runner can read it.’” —Habakkuk 2:2

Not only will writing down your goals help to keep you committed, but something powerful happens when you take the time to put pen to paper and record your dreams and goals.

Answer the following question:

STEP 1: WHAT? 

• What are your goals and dreams? 
• What do you want? 

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” —Proverbs 29:18

It is important to set goals for all the areas of your life. You need to see how all your dreams and goals fit together.

Below is a basic list of areas to consider…  

(This list is to serve as a guide. Feel free to add any other goals you have.)

God goals:

• Time with God
• Reading God’s Word and time in prayer
• Ministry goals

Health:

• Diet
• Fitness

Personal: 

• Education
• Time for self

Family:

• Time with family
• Holiday
• A new home
• A new car
• Children’s education

Financial:

• Eliminating debt
• Building up savings for short-term needs
• Building up a Wealth Portfolio for the future
• Retirement
• Own business

By including all your goals, it will force you to clarify what you want and motivate you to take action.

Take time to articulate your dreams and goals. 

Brainstorm. Discuss your dreams with your loved ones.

Once you know what you want to achieve, you can put a PLAN in place to achieve it, but first, you need to answer the WHY.

WHY do you want it?

STEP 2: WHY? 

Once you know what you want to achieve, you need to answer the WHY.

Why do you want to achieve it? What is the reason?

Your WHY will help you define the purpose and gauge how important your dream or goal is to you.

Answer the following question: 

STEP 2: WHY?

WHY do you want it?

Your WHY will help you get clarity on what you want. 

Your WHY will help you articulate why this goal is important to you. 

Your WHY will help you to get your priorities in the correct order.

Why do you want to achieve this? Why is this important? If it is a real dream, you will do something about it. If not, you never will.

Once you are sure of WHAT you want to achieve and WHY you want it, you need to determine by WHEN you want to achieve the goal. Only then can you put a PLAN in place to do this…

STEP 3: WHEN?

Once you know WHAT you want to achieve and WHY you need to achieve it, you need to answer the WHEN.

WHEN would you want to achieve each of your goals and dreams?  

Your WHEN will help you to set timelines.

Make sure that your timeline is realistic. 

You may need to get advice to reach a particular goal. This will take place during the planning stage. 

Remember, you can always go back and adjust your plan to ensure that your goals remain attainable and fit in with your lifestyle and budget constraints. 

Answer the following question: 

STEP 3: WHEN?

By WHEN do you want to reach your specific goal? 

Your WHEN will help you set time frames.

Once you are sure of WHAT you want to achieve, WHY you want it, and have determined by WHEN you want to achieve the goal, you need to answer the HOW. 

This is where you can put a PLAN in place to do this…

STEP 4: HOW?

How are you going to get there? 

You need a PLAN – the MAP of how you can get from where you are to where you want to be.

Answer the following question: 

STEP 4: HOW?

How can you achieve this goal within the set timeframe?

Your HOW is your PLAN. 

Without a PLAN, your dreams will only be wishful thinking, leaving you frustrated.

Without a clear PLAN, you will probably battle to achieve your goals and dreams.

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” —Proverbs 21:5

How will you achieve your dreams? 

How will you realize your goals?

If you want to TURN YOUR DREAMS INTO REALITY, simply ask yourself… 

• WHAT are my dreams and goals? 
• WHY do I want to achieve them?
• By WHEN do I plan to achieve them?
• HOW can I make these dreams and goals a reality?

• First decide on WHAT you want to achieve.
• Then make sure you know WHY you want it.
• Then you need to determine by WHEN you want to achieve the specific goals.
• You can then answer the HOW and formulate a plan so that you can start working towards making your dreams a reality.

IF YOU FOLLOW THESE 4 SIMPLE STEPS, YOU WILL SET UP A PLAN TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

If you apply this step-by-step approach, you will set yourself on the journey to achieve your dreams and make them a reality. 

Don’t be lazy…

“Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.” —Proverbs 10:4

Work hard and prosper…

“Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” —Proverbs 13:4

Set your goals. Dare to dream! Aim high. Attempt great things! May God bless you as you press forward, onwards and upwards, to make your dreams and goals a reality.

Before we move forward, there is another step that many don’t take, which I suggest you apply to your goals and dreams. Many have good plans but find it difficult to follow through. 

This ONE step can literally be the difference between achieving your goals and giving up on your dreams. 

Unfortunately, many still stumble along, and even with a plan, they battle to bring it to pass…

If you seriously want to accomplish your goals and dreams, you need to make a FIRM DECISION to DO or NOT DO something. You need to be DETERMINED to follow through.

Once you have your GOAL-SETTING PLAN in place and have made the FIRM DECISION to follow through, there is a vital step that you need to apply to make it easier for you to stick to your plan and follow through. It is all about THE SYSTEM.

In the next chapter, we will look at this vital strategy that will help make it easy for you to achieve your goals.

We will then share the final missing ingredient that many are not aware of, that can make the most significant difference of all, which has the potential to supernaturally catapult you into your God-ordained destiny.

TODAY, I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO DARE TO DREAM AND TO SET GOALS. IF YOU WANT TO BUILD TOWARD FINANCIAL FREEDOM, YOU NEED…

A VISION

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)

A PLAN

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)

MANY SET GOALS BUT ARE LEFT FRUSTRATED AS THEY BATTLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON THEIR DREAMS AND GOALS.

NEXT WEEK, WE WILL LOOK AT HOW TO SET UP A SYSTEM TO MAKE IT EASY TO BUILD TOWARD ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS. 

I pray that you will set some goals for your future n in your heart today. 

Dare to dream. Aim high. Lift the lid. Attempt great things with God. 

Something powerful happens when you begin to dream and have a vision. 

Write down your goals, hopes, and aspirations.

Answer the four questions – WHAT? WHY? WHEN? HOW? 

Set up an easy-to-follow system.

Commit your plans to God.

I pray that God will help you unlock the dreams and purpose for which he made you and that he will catapult you into your destiny.