Make a plan for achieving goals, dreams

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

- Philippians 3:14 (NIV)

It's that time of year when we strive to make our goals and dreams work. In just these few short days, many of us have already failed at it.

But that's OK; we don't have to feel like failures. This scripture passage proves, like us, the Apostle Paul strove to meet goals too.

It's a fact of life that we all try and fail while striving to achieve our desires. For example, when we were toddlers learning to walk, we fell countless times and never seemed to give up. Eventually, we managed to achieve not only walking, but learning to run.

Many times we trip up in our goals because we don't always identify the problems that get in our way. As a nurse and a life coach, I've helped people look at and write their goals.

In nursing, we wrote goals for every patient called "Care Plans." I believe they were called this because careful planning went into them.

I'll share with you how to write a goal. On a piece of paper or a blank file page on your computer, jot down your goal by simply stating what it is you are trying to achieve.

Next, make a list of all those frustrating problems that seem to get in the way. If you don't identify them all at once, it's OK; you can go back and list them as they come to mind.

Your next step is to make a plan to overcome those obstacles. Again, you don't have to think of all your steps at once. But once you've listed a few, start implementing your plan.

Your final step is constant evaluation. This step shows you if you're meeting your goal or not. If we always met our goal, we wouldn't need this step. That should be comforting to know. Each time you evaluate a failure, go back to your problem step and identify where you got off track and start again.

If you need help, enlist someone who can help you with your plan and keep you encouraged.

Most important, remember that if you try and fail, press on.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She is available to speak to your church group or business. Contact her for information about her Saturday conference in January, "Writing for fun and profit." Contact her at Annettee Budzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413. Visit www.annetteebudzban.com.