7 mindsets for goals; achieving self-motivation

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Ever have trouble achieving self-motivation?

I took a personality test last week and learned something new about my goal mindset.

The Quiz

The quiz presented a unique perspective on how people accomplish tasks according to their personality types.  The theory is, pinpointing your target personality: Obliger, Questioner, Rebel, or Upholder, enables you to better-set set goals and achieve your to-do lists.

(More on the quiz in my next post!)

Are you ready to hear what I am?

My parents and husband will NOT be surprised, because as a child, I had a million questions about everything. And as an adult, I’m still obnoxiously serious about detail.

Not cool for the person married to me who likes to change plans mid-stream or give vague times for leaving the house.

Why do I have to do that?

You guessed it.  I’m the Questioner.

(My husband is the rebel, by the way.  I didn’t even have to ask.)

A questioner has to determine what goals are important to achieve by factual support before he or she is on board with any plan.

Down to the last detail.

Like even what time of day is best for flossing.

My Oldest Child

My oldest, the little mama, is an Obliger.  She will accomplish goals others set for her (such as work or church projects), but not necessarily deem her own personal ambitions important (such as exercise or diet).  She needs to be accountable to someone.

When she affirmed this (after I forced every member of my family to take the test), I realized something about myself.

I used to be that way.

The way I set my goals, achieving self-motivation was answering to others because I knew I would let myself down.

I attended Weight Watchers meetings every week, cringing in fear, climbing on the scales in front of the leader. Because humility was enough to keep me accountable.

I hired a personal trainer to get fit because I wouldn’t exercise on my own.

I joined a Bible study group so I would study my Bible more deeply.

All good goals.

The Past Three Years

But in the past three years, I’ve become a different person – a person who stays true to my goals without having to be forced.

Upon realizing this truth, I wondered, how did it happen?  Why am I different?

Why do I find my personal goals more attainable now than I did say, five years ago?

What brings self-motivation?

There comes a time in life when you realize you’re not going to live forever.  You’ve made mistakes, blown through your prime, and eaten enough mint chocolate chip ice cream to fit an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

I turned 50 not too long ago.  Aside from that blow to my ego, I realized my life was probably more than halfway over.

This gave me pause as to how I was living and how I wanted to be remembered.

Remember the old commercial for Tombstone Pizza?

What do you want on YOUR tombstone?

Other than pepperoni, cheese, and a nice, thin crust, I want to be known as someone who used her time wisely.

On My Tombstone

I give my youngest directives for my tombstone on a regular basis:

Here lies mom.  She was the Bomb.

Da Mom

Laughing was her favorite

Dory

She finally made a killer pie crust (ba-dump-pump)

“Why do you always say that, mom?  I don’t want to talk about your tombstone!”

“Because I need to be remembered for something!”

“I think we’ll remember you, mom.  Now let’s stop talking about this.”

As for the Youngest

As the youngest of four and the one who still lives at home (and has never moved out and then back in again), she gets the full brunt of my epitaph isms.

All joking aside, the Questioner began to wise up.  She became attuned to her gut feelings of guilt or remorse.  She earnestly sought Scripture.

And she began to develop a deeper prayer life.

I realize now through abiding in Christ His desires have become my own.  And my desires, directly from Him, have become priorities.

7 mindsets for goals achieving self-motivation

Here’s the difference between now and then, and here’s my mindset.  If you adopt this way of thinking you will be well on your way to achieving your 2018 goals!

1.)  I only let myself down when I blow it

No one else cares if I achieve my goals as much as I do.  However, I am a person of value because God says I am. He has bestowed value on me, redeemed me, and saved me to accomplish His will.

2.)  I believe God is interested in all my goals

Believing God is interested means cultivating a personal relationship with Him.  I am on the path to decisions with God concerning my motivations.

3.)  I hate how I feel in the morning (when I’ve blown it)

That feeling when I wake up in the morning is all the more motivation to follow through the night before!

4.)  I gain freedom from saying no (or yes)

This is a tough lesson to learn, but freedom in Christ is the same concept.  We have to say no in order to lay hold of our yesses!

5.)  I pray about everything

God is a present help and strength!  Keeping a running dialogue with Him means I acknowledge that He is watching me and well aware of each choice I make!

6.)  I believe my goals are of the Lord

NOTE: this isn’t the same as number two.    Number six means you have chosen your goals after performing number five (prayer).  You’ve made the decision.  You’ve chosen the path.  You know God is in it.

7.)  I tell others about my goals

The next best thing to making a commitment is to be accountable to others.  That’s why I’ll do challenges here on the blog every now and then!  It helps me AND you!

Maybe you haven’t started to make goals yet for 2018.  Personally, goal-setting is my jam.  I LOVE a fresh list of goals on January 1 and I love the squeaky clean-slate feeling.

A few of my accomplished goals:

Read through the Bible (for the third time in a row)

Kneel in prayer 20 minutes per day 5 days per week

Establish a strong support system for angry moms

Grow my blog readership

Write and publish an ebook

Self-motivation Secret

The reason I accomplished my mission?  I committed these God-ordained goals to prayer!  Committing your goals to the Lord through dedicated prayer makes all the difference because God’s goals become your goals, and God blesses them!

Commit your ways to the Lord and He will establish it.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.  ~Psalm 37:4-7, ESV

In My Next Post

In my next post, I explain in detail how I crushed my goals and how you can blow your goals out of the water this year too.

PS Join me in the next post where I’ll explain my remnant “Upholder” tendencies and why I didn’t accomplish some of my personal (read: body) goals.  You’ll learn about the personality quiz too – be sure to sign up for email so you don’t miss any other important posts (you’ll also receive my Wife and Mommy Survival Kit)!

Mulling over goal inspiration?

Here’s a word from me to you on setting kingdom goals!

I don’t know about you, but spiritual growth never seems to happen by accident in my life. It seems I’m either intentionally moving towards God or I’m coasting (translation: drifting away from Him.)

Can a girl relate?

I want to be intentional about my spiritual growth again in 2017, which is why I’m excited about Grace Goals, a series of 5 workshops that walk you through the process of setting goals from a Biblical perspective.

Grace Goals is actually how I blew my 2016 goals out of the water (more on that in this post called, Why we fail to achieve goals and how to rock your year).

With Grace Goals, you will…
>> Set practical, godly goals
>> Be confident of God’s favor and power in your endeavors
>> Develop a doable, personal plan for change

>> Learn why grace is the enablement you need
>> Begin to recognize and appropriate grace in your daily life
>> Receive encouragement in the Facebook group (optional!)

Remember, here’s the second half of my story.  In the meantime, you can learn more about Grace Goals by clicking the button below.  If you are serious about achieving your goals this year, consider Grace Goals!