Don’t lose sight of your goals

To achieve success in life, there are three obstacles you’ll have to be aware of and overcome: (1) Weariness. It’s reputed that during the Kentucky Derby, the winning horse runs out of oxygen after the first half-mile and runs the rest of the way on “heart.” So look into your heart today and see if you are truly committed. “Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NKJV). (2) Fear. When it comes to commitment, there are four kinds of people. (a) Cop-outs: people who have no goals and who don’t commit. (b) Hold-outs: people who don’t know if they can reach their goals so they’re afraid to commit. (c) Drop-outs: people who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough. (d) All-outs: people who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them. Which one of the four are you? Fear and faith will always be present in your life, and the one you choose will determine whether you succeed or fail. (3) Complacency. Successful businessman Ray Kroc said, “As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot.” If you’re wise, you’ll take regular rest periods to refresh, renew, and refocus. But you must not settle for yesterday’s successes or coast on today’s momentum. Be like Paul: “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT).