Is goal setting the problem?

Learning how to create a vision while surrendering the future

If you spend 10 minutes on Instagram the week of a new year, you’ll inevitably see it: the demonization of goal setting.

Expect to see plenty of “I’m not a resolutions person but…” or “I hate setting goals for the year…”

Is goal setting the real problem, though? When I first started seeing the posts (usually at the same time I was posting my big annual goal series), I wondered why all the fuss about goal-setting.

And then I remembered my own experience with it. For the last 15 years, goal-setting has been a natural rhythm in my life. And to be honest, it has felt at odds with living God’s plan for me.

In those early seasons, I pushed through with my plan, and it resulted in stress that damaged me not just physically but spiritually, too. In the last few, though, I have had a more surrendered approach, not so obsessed with the goals themselves, and my life has transformed in ways I never planned.

In my humble opinion, setting goals isn’t the problem. It’s how we approach them. I want to share with you 4 tips that have helped me this past year, especially.