257. How To Live Your Life on Purpose

If you want to make this life count, you will need to live your life on purpose.  That starts with setting goals and setting up daily systems to achieve your spiritual ambition.  In this episode I talk about how to do just that. 

1.     How to Live Your Life on Purpose

A 10x disciple is a disciple living with a purpose and goal in mind.  Everything he or she does has Jesus’ interests in mind.  This type of person is extremely rare as Paul states in Philippians 2:20-22, ²⁰ I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹ For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.  Timothy was clearly a 10x disciple because he was looking out for the interests of Jesus.  Unfortunately, it’s rare to find a person who is living to advance Jesus’ interests in this world.  If you want to be a multiplier, there are a few steps to move in that direction:

1.       Set goals

2.      Write them down daily

3.      Set up your day and week’s activities and schedule to support those goals

Set goals for yourself.  Jesus lived with an agenda guiding his life.  Over and over he repeated his goal for his life.  In Luke 19:10 he says out loud, “For the son of man came to seek and save the lost.”  He explicitly describes the goal for his life.  This enabled him to cut through all of the other competing demands on his time.  When his disciples begged him to continue healing the sick in Mark 1:37, he said no without saying “no” by stating his greater goal for his life, “ ³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”  With only three years to accomplish his father’s will for his life, Jesus had to have a clear goal guiding his life.  But because he was clear and often restated his primary purpose he was able to complete his primary mission and say with satisfaction, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)  Clarity about our goals in life is what enables us to enjoy the satisfaction of pleasing God and knowing when we’ve achieved what we are on this earth to accomplish.  Take some time to write your goals down.  I would recommend having a one-year goal for each one of your primary areas of responsibilities or interests.  For example:

1.       Evangelistic Goal

2.      Spiritual Growth Goal

3.      Financial Goal

4.     Relationship/Dating/Marriage Goal

5.      Career Goal

6.     Health and Fitness Goal

7.      Skill Development Goal

8.     Fun and Adventure Goal

Write your goals down daily.  Many people write goals down at some point and then forget them.  A fruitful disciple of Jesus never loses track of where they are going.  He refers constantly to his course in life.  Like an explorer discovering uncharted ground, he constantly refers back to his compass to make sure he stays on course.  In the same way, if you want your life to count, write and rewrite your goals down every day.  If you need more help on writing goals I’d recommend any book by Brian Tracy.  However, there is nothing magical about goalsetting.  Just keep doing it every day.  This world is filled with distractions.  Jesus warns of this in Mark 4:19 when he said that “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”  If you don’t keep your eye on your most precious goals, they will soon be lost beneath a thousand competing weeds.  Your job is to tend your precious purposes every single day like a gardener weeding around his plants.  I will write my goals down daily and often will repeat them out loud while I pray.  I spend time imagining them coming true at the time I’ve set for them.   

Set up your day’s schedule and activities to support your goals.  Setting goals without a clear connection to your daily and weekly routine leads to frustration and lack of progress.  John Maxwell said this, "You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."  Scott Adams echoes this same concept in his book, “How to fail at almost everything and still win big.”  He argues for setting up “systems” every day that support your goals.  In fact he claims that goals without daily systems to achieve them are for losers, meaning if you only have goals you will constantly feel like you are failing until you actually reach that goal.  However, if you set up a daily routine that takes small steps toward your goals, you will feel like a winner anytime you are moving in the direction of your deepest wishes.  For example, every morning I write in my journal things that I’m thankful for.  Then I write down my goals for the year.  Once I do that, I write down a few things I can do that day to take small steps toward that goal.  For instance, if one of my goals is to save a soul that year, I would list out the following activities for that day:

·        Share my faith at least once today

·        Call and follow up with my friend who came to church

·        Invite a couple over for dinner this weekend

·        Pray for the people I’m reaching out to

The great thing about having a daily routine that supports your goals is that every time you take small steps toward your goals, whether on a daily or weekly basis, you get the sense that you are “winning.” And that feels good.  I like how Earl Nightingale defines success, "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal."  Any time that you are working toward your goal, you are a success.  That’s the power of setting up a daily and weekly routine that points you in the direction of your goals, every day feels like you are succeeding.  Take a look at your daily routine.  If you desire to multiply disciples and yet every night you are going home to spend four hours watching “Squid Game” you have a disconnect between your goals and your daily routine.  You will have to open up your schedule to make yourself available for Jesus’ purpose for your life.

A “10x” disciple knows where he is going.  He also has a daily plan to get there.  Remember to:

1.       Set goals

2.      Write and rewrite them daily

3.      Set up your day and week’s activities and schedule to support those goals