TIMING YOUR GOALS

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time – Nehemiah 2:6

Someone said a goal without a timeline is a dream. This speaks to the need to set a challenging but realistic deadline for your goals. When you have a goal without a timeline, it is most probable that you will be unconscious of the fact that time is of essence. You will certainly be oblivious that every moment counts. Before you realize what is happening, you will discover that huge chunk of time has slipped by. So when you set your goals, have a set time to accomplish it.

Nehemiah was a wise administrator who understood the essence of time in nation building. When he caught wind of the dilapidated state of the walls and gates of Jerusalem, he was moved with passion to redress the situation. As a cup bearer in a presidential villa, while in exile, he was deeply eaten up with the desire to pitch in and help. For Nehemiah, it was a crying shame that Jerusalem has been run down. It was disheartening for him to realize that the city of perfection had been a sorry sight in the eyes of passers-by. Having shown the will to rebuild the walls, Nehemiah needed to answer a vital question: what is the time-span of the project?

If you don’t set a timeline to complete a project, it will most probably drag out. You will come across as someone who is not gaining momentum. Lack of timing to your goal will stir you to build in excessive latitude into your goals, which will most often make you to lay back. In the book of Nehemiah, before Nehemiah obtained his leave of absence from the presidential villa, to enable him rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, he did his homework and gave evidence of his readiness to complete the project within a defined timeframe. Hence, the questions are: Are you just chasing rainbows? Are you time-conscious in accomplishing your goals knowing that time is of essence? When you do the math, you will realize that you might have loafed away valuable time in realizing your goals. Wise up today! May you not end up with broken dreams as you begin to set challenging and realistic timeline to your goals in Jesus name.