4 Steps To Shift An Aspirational Goal To An Actual Pathway!
I desire to retire well, to be self-supporting and not a burden on my children.
I also want to write a book about pendulums that will help people discern how God is guiding them.
I'm hoping to lose 4 inches in my middle (just keeping it real).
And I dream of being close with my children and grandchildren as we all grow older.
These are all genuine goals for me. I really desire them all. But they will most likely remain dreams if don't add a pathway of intentional action steps toward the goals.
Sometimes churches have aspirational goals too.
We will break the 200-person attendance ceiling, or we will get to 1000 or whatever number...
More than 50% of our people will be in small groups.
Giving will increase by 20% in the next year.
Here's the thing. Clarifying a goal is good, but it is only a first step. Drilling down on a desire gives you something to shoot for, but it's like setting up a target and then not shooting any arrows. No matter how descriptive with get with the target, if we don't move toward it, then it just sits there. (Eventually, we may even feel worse about that area when we do think about it because we know we are falling short of forward movement.)
For instance, identifying a certain desired number of people to attend church won't actually move the needle. It takes work (and maybe even training) to build action steps that impact outcomes.
In Coach Training, we drill down on actual pathways and call it the Coaching ROAD.
R- Recognition - this is when we decide what we want to focus on or help the person being coached to focus on. It's important to know what we should be focusing on in our conversation, but recognition, again, is only a good first step. If you stop there, you won't actually have moved forward much at all.
O- Ownership - this is where we look at the obstacles that have held us back. We "own" our pathway by removing excuses and limiting beliefs that have kept us stuck. Skipping this step can be a critical misstep and costly delay. Masterful coaching helps not only recognize focal points and make action steps but also asks questions to help identify and remove internal roadblocks.
A- Action Steps - this is where we make SMART goals. We revisit them and adjust as needed. in this step, we talk about deliverables - measurable acts that we can change up to make our long-term aspirational goals actually happen. (if you can't ask yourself or someone you are coaching if they actually did something toward their goal, then it isn't measurable or actionable.)
D- Dedication - this is where we discern how to maintain the gain, keep up the habit, and intentionally continue the momentum.
Here are some of my personal actual deliverables:
- Setting up a budget with retirement goals and sticking with it.
- Writing at least one hour a week on my next book. (Thanks for the tip James Clear - Atomic Habits)
- Regularly working out, I'm currently doing the Stronglifts 5X5 program and getting results!
- Planning family gatherings, intentionally sharing in a group text, doing BeReal together, and working on more regular connecting individually with each grandchild.
For churches, measurables need to be something you can act on, not just hope for. For instance:
- Setting up a campaign where each person asks one person to come to church with them in a year.
- Have three easy-to-invite wouldn't-want-to miss events per year so the previous step is simple.
- Recruit a specific number of small group leaders or members each season. Divide that by the weeks or months in the process, figure out how many shoulder taps will be needed, and intentionally target however many connections will be needed to move forward. (hint: announcing from the stage that you need small group leaders rarely brings enough leaders to the table and sometimes is the ownership excuse usds to avoid shoulder tapping. "If only they would announce it, then..." or "If only people would respond to the announcement...")
- Set up a financial planning team to brainstorm about giving obstacles and opportunities and move accordingly.
Remember, hitting a target requires more than just a target. You need arrows and a bow and skills and time and ... you get the picture.
To understand more about the Coaching Road, check out our Associate Coaches, get the Traction book, or go all-in and get some coach training! We've never heard anyone say they regret the investment.
To more info visit Bridges Coaching.