Pursuing Your Goals #1: Training Your Heart

I started this series with the statement, “When you are pursuing a goal failing is not the hardest part of the process. The hardest part of the process is training your mind to stay focused on the goal, training your heart to have resolve, & training your spirit to know that a son can never fail. When the mind, heart, & spirit are intact defeat will never be known & victory is most assuredly yours.” Today we’re going to look at the heart.

One awesome thing about motivational speakers, coaches, teachers, & leaders is that they know how to get your blood boiling; they are movers, movers of things & people. It is there job to learn how to train the heart of a person. That’s right, train the heart.

When we think about pursuing goals & moving forward in a certain direction we don’t often take into account the magnitude of the heart’s affect on the pursuit. Your heart is the seat of your emotions, affections, passions, & desires. And, as you begin to pursue things you have never pursued it is absolutely necessary to have a heart that has resolve. However, resolve in your heart does not just happen; you must train your heart to have resolve.

Resolve is an unwavering determination; resolve says, “I’ve made my decision & I refuse to change it!” When we start something new it is very easy to feel emotionally excited about it. Our hearts are exuberant. We can see the possibility of a new way of life, we can see more money in our bank account, we can see our bodies looking different, or we can see ourselves in that job we always wanted.

However, when our feet hit the hard cold pavement of the road that leads us there & reality sets in, all of the sudden we’re not so excited anymore. When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, “what happened to all that joy?” When I have to sacrifice not going out with friends over & over so I could save money, “what happened to all that excitement?” When I have to actually plan out a schedule for my day, manage my time, & make hard decisions, “what happen to all those warm feelings that came when I thought about a new way of life?”

 

Resolve confronts those emotions in the greatest sense. When emotions say, “I don’t feel like getting up.” Resolve answers, “I don’t care what you feel like. You are going to do it because you need it.” When emotions say, “I really feel like yelling at this person.” Resolve answers, “You will control yourself because you’re only going to cause more hurt & create greater distance. Remember, you said you want to be closer to this person.” When emotions say, “I feel like this is too hard.” Resolve answers, “It is hard, it won’t be easy, it does hurt, but the way you were living before is only going to keep you where you’re at. No turning back!”

Let’s Do This Together:

What goals have you been excited about pursuing this year, but when you started moving towards them feelings seemed to say the opposite? How have you responded?