Matt Emmons was leading the 3-position shooting competition in the 2014 Summer Olympic Games when he accidentally cross-fired, hitting the wrong target on his final shot. Although Emmons had nailed the bullseye, he scored a zero and finished 8th in the competition because he hit another shooter’s target.

You should aim for your own goals.

In the late 1960s, college football wasn’t very integrated. When Ernest Cook was offered a football scholarship to Florida State University, threats were made about what would happen if the Black man came to Tallahassee to play. Frightened, Cook welcomed recruiters from other schools and accepted a scholarship from the University of Minnesota, where he became a star fullback. After four years at Minnesota, Cook was selected as Player of the Game during his final match against Iowa. Interviewed by a reporter, Cook was asked about his future in the NFL. His coach, Murray Warmath, interrupted to say, “Ernie is not going to play pro football; Ernie is going to be a doctor.” Warmath wasn’t being presumptuous, he was merely re-focusing on the goal that brought Cook to U of MN to begin with. When recruiting Cook to Minnesota, Warmath asked Cook, “What do you want to do in life?” After Cook responded that he wanted to be a doctor, Warmath promised to help Cook achieve his dream if Cook decided to play football for Minnesota. Cook did go on to medical school at the University of Minnesota, as promised, and is currently a physician in Ormond Beach, FL.

You have to hit your own goals.

Others, often well-intentioned will try to determine your priorities. A parent might push you to attend their college or enter the family business, following in their footsteps. Friends may tell you how you should spend your life. An employer may push you to reach sales or production quotas. It’s too easy to cave in to others’ goals without really considering the cost – after all, you want the approval of others, want to fit in, have to make a living and provide for your family. And when you do what others want you to do, they’ll often go to great lengths to help you “achieve your dreams.” But what if their dreams aren’t your dreams. What if you spend your life doing what others want you to do, and never get around to pursuing your own goals?

Will others define the borders of your life, or will you take the risk of becoming the best “you” God intended you to be? Your goals, or someone else’s?

Author Mark Twain wrote, “Twenty-years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by what you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Philosopher and author Henry David Thoreau said, “In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high.”

According to Forbes magazine, 48% of those surveyed said their number one goal for 2024 was improving their fitness. Another 38% asserted that their goal was improving their financial standing. 25% claimed their goal for 2024 was to spend more time with loved ones. But while you’re pursuing career goals, relationship goals and the all-important “bucket list,” don’t forget the spiritual aspect of your life. Barna Research reports that only 1 out of 7 Christians lists drawing closer to God as their most important goal.

Put God first and your goals will not mirror those of the majority. That’s okay! Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:31-33, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, the Apostle Paul writes “So we make it our goal to please him…For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” In Mark 8:36, Jesus asks the question that should focus our effort on what is most important: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”