Every year, I tell myself I am going to make significant progress on my goals. I am determined to do the hard work required to see God’s purpose fulfilled in my life. But, I have learned that telling myself something is a whole lot easier than actually living it out. I want to rise above all the chaos and make changes, but life just gets so incredibly crazy.

I have learned that I get easily discouraged. I feel defeated by unexpected circumstances out of my control. The brokenness of this world breaks in, and I give in to despair. Instead of reading through my Bible in a year and exercising every morning, I end up eating Oreo cookies and binging Netflix instead.  

This cycle of defeat went on for years until one day a good friend got in my face and told me the truth: God never promised you it was going to be easy. He promised to give you what you need to be successful… but you have to take the brave steps to move forward with faith even when you are scared. Even when it’s hard. Even when you’d rather just give up.  

So, I put my big girl pants on and decided to stop making excuses. I will never live a victorious Christian life if I am not willing to do the hard work of walking out my faith. God says I am am more than a conqueror, but first I need to get up off the couch and choose to believe He is able to see me through impossible situations.  

This year has been the craziest year ever thanks to a global pandemic, racial tension, and political upheaval. Maybe you are feeling like you’ve wasted so much time sitting around and doing absolutely nothing. We can feel stuck professionally and stagnant in our spiritual routines. So many times, our relationships are messy and unsatisfying. If you are looking back at this last season of your life with a frown, I want to share 3 steps that have helped me make significant progress and persevere through the hardest year of my life.  

3 Steps to Make Significant Progress

Write out God’s Divine Purpose for Your Life.

If you don’t know what your calling is, the father of lies will label you a loser and a has-been. He will whisper, “You aren’t good enough to make a difference in this world, and you might as well just give up now.” But God has created you for such a time as this, my sister. Craft a one-sentence mission statement that clarifies your passionate pursuit for God’s glory.

• “The fact is that what we are we owe to the hand of God upon us. We are born afresh in Christ, and born to do those good deeds which God planned for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10, PHI)

Create a Visual Reminder of Your Priorities.

Use meaningful words, inspiring pictures, and a splash of color to create a vision board. You want to keep a picture in view of the ground God wants you to cultivate in His kingdom. I place mine on my desk to help me focus with intention on tending to my family, my ministry, my friendships, my health, my personal growth & my spiritual well being.

• “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3, NET)

Write out prayer-infused action steps monthly, weekly, and daily.

Once a week, make a date with yourself and sit down to plan out a strategy to take brave steps forward in faith. John Maxwell once said that “small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” What is one simple change you can make this week to start?  

Three years ago, I invested in a resource that has saved my life and helped me move forward despite all the crazy changes that have unexpectedly disrupted my plans.The Powersheets Goal Planner showed me how to set intentional goals in each of my priority areas and stick to them. Every month, I pull out my book and develop an action plan with monthly, weekly, and daily steps to make progress. Using this system has kept me accountable and  allowed me make the necessary adjustments along the way.  

I now have a place to record all the wins where God and I have made a breakthrough — I can visually see the transformation in my life step by step and month by month. Powersheets has given me a reason to celebrate even in the middle of the chaos. Honestly at the end of 2019, I thought I hadn’t accomplished much, but when I look at my Powersheets, I can clearly see that is a lie from the pit of hell. Using this wonderful resource has been life changing for me.  

In case you missed it, I actually went live on Facebook to talk about my love for the Powersheets Goal Planner. I’ve lost 35 pounds and made significant progress on my health goals this year!!!!

• “Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don’t be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of God.” (Ephesians 5:16-17, Phillips)

Do you want to make significant progress? To help you get started, I’ve created two great resources for you: The “My Mission Statement” worksheet will walk you through the steps to creating a clear focus for your year. Plus, I also provided a list of 10 mission-minded Scriptures for you to print out and pray over this week for inspiration. Sign up today as a member of the Wildfire Faith Community and grab a copy in our Faith Fuel Library.

Friend, let’s hold on to this sweet promise: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, MSG)

Every day we can take brave steps forward and believe that even greater things are yet to come. God has a vision for our lives for this season, and it is not on standby.  

God’s purpose for your life is not on pause. Press on, friend.

Let’s Chat: How will you plan to make significant progress in this next season?

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