We had a zone conference near Toronto last Thursday which was a blast! My companion and I got to see other missionaries in person for the first time in over a month. The closest missionaries are 4 hours away so we don't see missionaries very often. It made me appreciate the social aspect of a full-time mission; in other words, spending time with other missionaries. It's like they say: "You don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone."
As part of zone conference we learned about effective goal setting. Our mission leaders had received training from church leaders for a 4 step program for goal setting. I've applied these 4 steps in my missionary work recently and it is awesome. If I apply this program over the course of my life, I will be able to accomplish many great things.
I want to share a simple version of it because it could help someone out. If you haven't already applied these principles in your life then it would be a good thing to try :)
Here is the inspired 4 step program:
1. Evaluation - Where am I at and where do I want to be? This can also be defined as a VISION. For example: A long time ago, God looked at his spirit children and created a vision: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Other examples of visions: I want to climb a mountain, I want to teach repentance and baptize, I want to design and build a house, I want straight A's, I want to write a book. A vision is not the same as a goal (I was confused about this before). A vision is not usually quantified or specific, it's more like a final destination. We set goals to help make our vision become reality. To determine a good vision (where you want to be) you first must evaluate where you are at now, that is why step 1 is Evaluation.
2. Brainstorm - Collect ideas of how you will accomplish your vision. Gather helpful materials, people, resources etc and make a plan. If you want to climb a mountain then you need to figure out the what, where and how of doing it. Put simply, step 2 is figuring out/planning the path you will take to get to where you want to be (your vision/destination). Once you have brainstormed enough good stuff, you set good goals, then make plans to accomplish those goals. Effective goals are quantified and specific. Step 2 is the most involved step. Fundamentally it has 2 parts, set goals and make plans.
3. Schedule - This step is vital if you actually want to make things happen. Once you have set effective goals and made plans to accomplish them, you schedule when you are actually going to do it. Full-time missionaries schedule every hour of everyday. We would be so ineffective if we didn't do this. In our normal life endeavors it's not realistic to schedule every hour of everyday, but if we don't schedule effectively, then it will be hard to accomplish our goals in a timely manner. For instance, if you don't pick a time and date for when you want to climb a mountain (vision), then climbing that mountain must not be that important to you. Far too often I didn't accomplish my goals and then I justified my failure by saying something like this, "It's okay, I will climb a mountain next year." Step 3 includes the doing part. Schedule a time and do it.
4. Evaluate - Step 4 includes the same principles as step 1. Did you accomplish your goals? Is your vision becoming a reality? Where are you at now and where do you want to be? If things didn't go as well as you would have liked, how can you improve? Were your goals realistic and measurable? Were your plans comprehensive? Did you spend enough time doing it? Evaluate and start the process over again :) This overall process of steps 1-4 can be applied over the course of a day, a week, a month, or longer. Day by day evaluation and reporting is most effective.
That's the basics of what I've learned. If applied, this program can be very beneficial to full-time missionaries and everybody else!
Vision <--- Schedule/do it! <--- Goals/plans <--- Evaluate
Destination <--------------------Path-----
It goes without saying that God is a master at applying this program. He has everything set-up beautifully for us. The Plan of Salvation, the world, the church/gospel, our families, etc.. The destination of eternal life is clear to see...it's attainable! If we rely on God and do our best to follow him, we will make it. God's work will not be frustrated, it is too well designed. I am grateful for my Father in Heaven, the Holy Ghost and my Savior Jesus Christ who make it all possible. It is simply amazing.
I hope the 4 step program will help somebody. Again, I didn't come up with it, it's an inspired program and it's helped me in my life already. If you haven't applied the program before then it's recommended to start small and then expand. Good luck :)
I hope you have a good week and enjoy summer. Try to appreciate summer before it's gone. :O
Elder Johnson
Pictures: Elder Fabiano and I went to a natural park called White Fish Island today. It's a small island on the south part of the city right near the Canada/US border. And yes it was just my companion and I, haha. In pic 4 you can see the great land of Amurica behind us.
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