Keeping your goal in mind

I  remember years ago in my confirmation class we were asked to do a task as one of the class activities set by the confirmation teacher. Our task was to make a collage, and we were given one hour to complete it. We did the exercise in the church hall which was set up with tables filled with all the material we needed to complete our collage. Each table was manned by someone to assist us.

“Our answers to these questions are the foundation for every other decision we make.”

We had to start by collecting a sheet of card and then starting in one corner of the huge hall, we had to go around from table to table choosing and taking what we needed to complete our collage.

I cannot remember what the collage had to be about, but I do remember that the catechist had placed at some of the tables people who distracted us. So we would stop at a table and while we were busy deciding what we needed from the table, the person manning the table would start talking to us. It would be about something very interesting, but irrelevant to our task.

There was a buzz of discussion in the hall. It sounded as though people were busy and really enjoying making their collages. Before we knew it, the hour was over.

The result: only one person, my sister, managed to complete the collage. Everyone else had come halfway or less. Many had most of the things they needed, but had not started putting the collage together. Others were still scrambling for scissors and glue in an attempt to complete their collage.

As we were debriefed about the exercise, we realised that there was more than enough time and material to complete our collages. We also realised that none of us, except my sister, were focused on our goal—to complete our collage.

Have a goal in mind. And begin everything you do with that goal in mind. In this way you will have purpose in your personal and work lives.

Purpose tells us where we are going. But how do we decide what that purpose is? We do not decide that purpose by ourselves, with our limited capacities of knowledge and intellect. We come to know that purpose by being deeply spiritual, by being in touch with our deepest selves and then making our choices about what is important, about what really matters.

Answer the following questions for yourself, or ask a spiritual guide to help you answer these questions about yourself.

Who am I? What is important in my life? What do I believe? What principles and values do I want to base my life on?

How we answer these questions is important, because they affect every other decision we make. Our answers to these questions are the foundation for every other decision we make.

Once we have answered them and know where we are going, then we will make decisions that help us to achieve our goals. We will be focused. We will have direction. No matter what happens, we will look at it in terms of where we want to go and need to go.

In the collage exercise we were given—as my sister knew, in some way—the answers to these important questions. She knew that she was chosen and tasked to make a collage. What was important to her was to complete that collage as she had been tasked to do. And she believed that when you have been tasked with something important, you have to focus and say no to anything that will hinder you from completing that task.

Know who you are. Know what is important. Have a goal for yourself. Have a vision, because, as Proverbs 29:18 teaches: “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.