A Look Back Before Moving Forward
Why is goal setting necessary, and why do I go blank when it’s time to set goals? As a corporate woman, I have had to set annual goals for my job. Even after 16 years of doing that, it hasn’t gotten any easier. It almost feels like year after year, we have to do better than the year before, which means making the goals harder.
That isn’t necessarily true, though. The goals don’t have to be more challenging but must be more intentional, attainable, and related to your purpose. For work, it should be linked to your career growth goals. For your personal life, it could be health or finance-related.
If you read my previous blog post, God’s Plan for Your Year: Trusting Him in 2025, you’ll recall that I wrote about how important it is to include God in our goal setting. How can we align our goals with God’s plan for us? I mentioned the importance of reflecting on the past year. I want to expand on that because it will help you achieve goals this year.
The Power of Reflection
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23
To make meaningful goals, we should reflect on our previous year. What are some things that happened that you enjoyed? What are some things that you can have less of? Did you identify any areas in your life that could be improved? These are all important questions to help us reveal what we can focus on in the new year.
While you think about your answers to these questions, include blessings that came with the things you enjoyed or blessings in the less enjoyable times. Because, like the verse above states, “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…”
Recognizing God’s Faithfulness
When you have written down the answers to these questions and listed the blessings this past year, you can see how God’s faithfulness has been woven through our lives. This is how you can be more intentional in your goal setting. Don’t just think about these things, write them down. You can be a testimony to someone else. Hearing testimonies reminds us that God’s love and faithfulness are ongoing.
For example, allow me to share a small testimony with you. This past year was not an easy one for my family financially. My husband was laid off from work, and his search for a new career came with a lot of uncertainty in job security. Things got hard, but we stayed faithful. This past August, my annual review was up. This year was different. This year, I got promoted. Something I have asked for over the last two years finally happened to me. While this boost in salary wasn’t life-changing, it did help us greatly.
Lessons Learned Through Challenges
This brings me to my next point: God’s faithfulness doesn’t mean life will be without challenges. It’s often through difficulties that we see His strength and provision most clearly. It’s like the story of David and Goliath. David, a shepherd, faces a giant Goliath, but he defeats him by trusting in God. This is just one story, and there are so many stories in the bible that show, time and time again, God’s faithfulness through challenging situations.
If you have faced trials this past year, reflect on those experiences. With prayer, seek God, asking him to help you see how God was present in those times.
Moving Forward with Confidence
Now that you have written down your reflections on your past year, listed your blessings, and recalled the times you saw God in those challenging times, you can move forward with fresh perspectives. It’s time to set your faith-based goals for the new year.
Here are some reminders to help you move forward:
Pray for Guidance: Ask God to guide you to be more intentional in your goal-planning for the new year.
Read Scripture: Study his word or memorize verses to help you when you are struggling.
Trust His Timing: He makes all things beautiful in His time. God’s timing is not always our timing, but His timing is always good.
Final Words
As we reflect on God’s faithfulness in the past year, let’s carry those lessons into the future. Remember His provision in times of need, His peace in moments of chaos, and His love that never fails. Spend intentional time in prayer, gratitude, and reflection as you prepare for what lies ahead.
Philippians 1:6 assures us: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” With this promise in mind, we can step into the new year with confidence, knowing that the God who has been faithful will continue to be so.
If you haven’t already done so, download my free End-of-Year Reflection worksheet. It will help you reflect and document your thoughts to make your goals this year more intentional.
