Where Am I Going? From Values to Goals to a 90-Day Plan

Welcome to Lesson 3 of 4 in Discovering You. It takes about 15 minutes.

You know who you are and why you are here. Now we turn that into direction: what comes first, how a value becomes a goal, and how a goal becomes 90 days of small, steady steps. You will finish with a 90-day action plan: the third piece of your Discovery Profile.

Scripture comes from the King James Version. This is a course for learning and reflection, not career, business or financial advice, and it cannot promise particular results.

Since last time

Last time you chose a small action: answering “What do you do?” with whom your work helps, doing one helpful thing for someone in front of you, or acting on a need you noticed.

Look back at the week. What did you try, and what did you notice? If you did not manage it, say so honestly and carry it into this week.

In this lesson you will

• Explain the difference between vision in Proverbs 29:18 and our personal goals, and why goals should come from values, not worry.
• Turn a value into a plain goal with a date and a counted cost.
• Write a 90-day action plan with three milestones, a weekly action and an obstacle named beforehand.

Before you start

How true is each of these for you today, from 1 (not true) to 5 (very true)?

• I know where I am heading over the next twelve months.
• My goals come from what I value, not from worry or comparison.
• I know what I will do this week to move one goal forward.

1. Vision, and what comes first

This is the verse many people expect in a lesson on goals.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Read it whole. The vision here is God's revelation: his word made known to his people. Where it is missing, people run without restraint; the second half blesses the one who keeps the law. So the verse is not about personal goals, and our own plans are not a vision from God. What it does teach is the order: direction starts with God's word, and our goals live under it.

Most of us set goals while worried. Will there be enough? Am I falling behind? Jesus speaks to worried people about real needs.

Matthew 6:31–33 (KJV) 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Our Father knows we need these things. Then comes an order: the kingdom first. This is about order, and it is no promise of riches. Your values from Lesson 1 are your answer in everyday words. A goal that comes from none of them is probably somebody else's goal.

Dr. Paul Enenche teaches that our vision should reach beyond our own consumption to serving others and those who come after us. So start with one sentence of direction: where do you want to be heading in twelve months, and whom will it serve?

Think about it: Think of one goal you are carrying. Does it come from what you value, or from worry about how you compare with others?

Try this week: Write one sentence of direction for the next twelve months and put it where you will see it every day this week.

2. A goal is a value with a date and a cost

“I value learning” is a value. “I will finish a short bookkeeping course by the end of next month” is a goal. Goals come in three kinds: career (a skill or role), business or service (something you build or offer) and income. Next to any income goal, write what the money is for: income is a tool, not the measure of a person.

Every goal has a cost. Jesus used a builder to make the point.

Luke 14:28–30 (KJV) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Jesus told this to show that following him has a cost. The picture is one any builder knows: sit down first, and count. A goal usually costs time, money, something you stop and someone's help.

Imagine a young man who says, “This year I will study in the evenings, start a side trade, lead the youth group and learn a language.” Each is good. He has counted the cost of none of them, and by March he has dropped all four. Uncounted cost defeated him, not the goals.

So choose one goal for the next 90 days, and show it to someone who has walked that road before you.

Think about it: Which goal of yours has a cost you have not yet counted?

Try this week: Take your one goal and write its cost in four lines: time, money, what you will stop, and whose help you need.

3. Ninety days, one step at a time

Twelve months can feel like a mountain. Ninety days is close enough to feel real. Give it three milestones: Month 1, prepare (learn, ask, gather), Month 2, build (the first real step), Month 3, deliver (put it in front of people). Then one weekly action, small and clearly done or not done, at a fixed time.

Something will get in the way. Nehemiah was rebuilding a city wall when opposition rose.

Nehemiah 4:6–9 (KJV) 6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, 8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

They prayed, and they set a watch. Prayer did not replace the guard, and the guard did not replace prayer. Dr. Myles Munroe's principles of vision include concrete planning, recognising obstacles and persistence. So name your obstacle now, while you are calm, and decide what you will do when it comes.

Keep a weekly review: what did I do, what got in the way, what will I change? A missed week is not a failed plan. Adjust, and begin again the next morning. And hold the plan with an open hand, saying, as James teaches, “If the Lord will” (James 4:15).

Think about it: What is the most likely thing to stop your 90-day plan, and what will you do when it comes?

Try this week: Do your weekly action once this week, at the time you fixed, and tick it off where you can see it.

Activities

Reflection

• Read your 90-day plan aloud. Which line are you most likely to let slip, and what will you do about that now?

Key takeaways

• The vision in Proverbs 29:18 is God's revelation, not our own goals. Direction starts with his word.
• Settle what comes first. Goals come from values, not worry.
• A goal is a value with a date and a cost. Choose one for 90 days, and count the cost.
• Prepare, build, deliver; a weekly action; pray and set a watch; review weekly; hold it with an open hand.

Your next step

You have finished Lesson 3. You are on the path of growth: you have a direction and a 90-day plan with a first step for this week.

Growth is easier with someone walking alongside you. KMA offers two ways to keep going:

Mentorship. Grow with a KMA mentor who helps you put what you discover into practice and follows up with you on it. See KMA's mentorship packages. See the mentorship packages

Or: the monthly Learning membership. Prefer to learn on your own first? KMA's monthly Learning membership takes you deeper in Communication, Leadership, Financial Intelligence, Enterprise Building, and AI and Automation. See the Learning membership