Having Goals In Summer

 Summer is an awesome time for me. I like that there is no school! But also there are teen camps, youth conferences, and a lot of free time Those 2 months of summer are great! Comment below what is your favorite part of summer. 

However a dilemma can come in the summer, especially for a  teenager. And that is having no goals or plans. It can be very easy (speaking from experience) to enjoy the summer yet when its's all done, realize you wasted it. Summer is one of those times where there is not a lot of obligations for me since school is done. But I must be careful not to waste the summer away. 

Ephesians 5:16 
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

So in today's post, I want to give a couple of goals every teenager should have in the summer that will help them redeem the time.

1. Have Goals.

Before we can choose and accomplish any goals, we must first have a desire to create goals. If we live the 2 months of summer with no goals or plan, we will most likely waste it. 

Proverbs 29:18
"Where there is no vision, the people perish...

2. Have Different Goals.

The second step is to have goals in different areas of your life. Real quick grab a piece of paper and a pen. No seriously, grab a piece of paper and a pen. According to research from Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University, people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than people who don't write them down. Now first off is spiritual goals. Ask yourself this. What area in my spiritual life do I want to grow in? It could be your walk with God, character, to read more spiritual books. Whatever you think you want to grow spiritually in this summer. For me, I don't know much about false religions or why their wrong. So over this summer, I'm writing a book about false religions, doctrines, and apologetics. Whatever goal you choose, write it down on that piece of paper.

Next, have a church goal. Ask yourself this. In what way do I want to help in a church ministry. It is vital for the teenager to be involved in the local church. Me and my sister Callie actually did a post on this very topic that you can find here. 

Those 2 goals above are the most important decisions you can make for your summer. Growing spiritually should always be a high priority in our life.

Next, ask yourself what goals your are going to set physically. It could be walking mile every morning or doing 50 pushups a day. Maybe it's to cut out some junk food or going on a diet. Find some way you can physically be healthier over the summer.

How about fun hobby goals. What fun hobby do you want to have in your summer. There is nothing wrong with spending some of your free time just having fun.

Lastly set some goals that are unique to you. Set some personal goals of things you want to accomplish.

3. Make A Plan To Achieve The Goal.

Now that we have a ton of goals for the summer on our piece of paper, we then should make a plan of how exactly can we best accomplish those goals. Having a plan of how specifically you can achieve those goals is very important. Here are some examples.

Goal: Write my book on cults and false religions.

Plan: I will write one chapter a week so that I will have it done the first week of August. On Wednesday and Thursday afternoons will be when I write for the week.

Having a plan will make your goals personal and attainable.

4. Other Notes.

Lastly, here are some other important tips when making goals in the summer.

A. Laminate the list of goals and put it somewhere you will remember.

B. Have someone in your family keep you accountable.

C. Create a list of why these goals are so important to you.

D. Make each goal specific.

E. Monitor your progress and reward yourself to stay motivated. 

F. Make a timeline of  when you will finish these goals.

Summer only lasts a short time. Before you know it, school will start again, and another summer will be behind you. The question is this: when summer ends, will you look back with regrets or with joy?