Week 2: Lifetime Goals

Disclaimer: I apologize for not posting on Sunday-- it was a crazy day. Then yesterday when I started this post, the computer froze up and freaked out.
Challenge: Write your diary in advance.
Promise: You will move toward your lifetime goal.
Dunn states that through goal setting, we can "write about what's happened before it's happened," and thus write our diaries in advance. I would like to clarify that goal setting is not predicting the future-- it's making the future. "If your goals are strong enough, they will inevitably produce results," (Dunn). Dunn reaffirms his faith that the subconscious mind, "if programmed with goals that are already set," will automatically steer you toward those goals. This reminded me of a poem I read by Walter D Whintle:

"If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win but you think you can't,

It's almost certain you won't.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later, the man who wins 

Is the man who thinks he can."

From the last few lines, the Spirit brought to my mind David and Goliath. Beating the nine foot, gazillion pound, angry, blood-thirsty Philistine seemed like an impossible goal. I often imagine King Saul and the Israelites laughing at David, but his faith in God "deliver[ed him] out of the hand of the Philistine," (1 Sam. 17:37).

Dunn continues "We have the unique perspective of knowing that the ultimate goal is to be as God is, and the lifetime goal is to return to His presence. All shorter-range goals should tune themselves to that. The way to do it is to look long and hard and prayerfully at that lifetime goal, and then WRITE DOWN what you could do in the next five years in pursuit of it," (caps added). I stress that all goals are written down. I do not recall who, but a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints explains why when he said, "A goal unwritten is just a dream." From experience I can testify that not writing down a goal is like fantasizing "I hope one day to do this or be that," but writing down a goal is demanding "I will do this and I will be that." So whatever goal you work on this week please WRITE. IT. DOWN.

After supporting our lifetime goal with a five year goal, Dunn encourages us to set a one year goal that will uphold the five year goal, and then a one month goal, and then a one week goal. So here it goes:

Since my lifetime goal is to return to live with Heavenly Father I know I will need the direction, counsel, and examples found and placed in the scriptures specifically to help us with this lifetime goal. Therefore, in five years I will have a thorough knowledge of all the scriptures. It works perfectly, one set of scripture for each year: 1. the Book of Mormon  2.the Old Testament  3.the New Testament  4.the Doctrine and Covenants and 5. the Pearl of Great Price(contains some re-translations of the Bible, Joseph Smith's record of seeing God and Jesus Christ and obtaining the Book of Mormon, and 13 articles describing what we believe- for more information go to mormon.org/faq/). For my one year goal I will read the Book of Mormon twice. The math says that in one month I need to be in 2 Nephi 19. In one week I will have read to 1 Nephi 13. Now I am making the future! I suggest that you do the same. Not the same goal, but do the same with whatever your goal is. Just as Dunn promises, I promise the if you follow this pattern for setting goals you will "see that nothing is unreachable to one who works in partnership with God," (Dunn).