Road Map for Life

                Families, communities, and nations can be strengthened when parents teach their children to set worthy goals.  By helping their children set goals for themselves, they are encouraging their children to reach a little higher and become a little better.  Without goals, people remain as they currently are or drift steadily downward.\

                Traveling through life without setting goals is like making a road trip without using a map.  We could waste a lot of time going up and down different roads to see if any of them lead to the desired destination.  The same is true with goals:  we could waste a lot of time in life without setting goals and possibly never reach where we really want to be.  On the other hand, by using a road map and/or setting goals, we can reach our destination. 

                Bishop John H. Vandenberg explained goals in a very plain manner by saying “if you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter which road you take” (Improvement Era, June 1966, 533 or Conference Report, April 1966, 92).

                “Every successful vacation  is largely the result of goals.  For example, after we decide where we are going, we select goals to help us know where we are now, where we are going, and how we are going to get from where we are to where we want to be.  Goals give purpose and direction to our actions.  They help us improve our lives and achieve heights we did not think possible.”

                What is a goal?  A goal could be a standard one wishes to attain or a destiny one desires to reach.  A goal could be a skill or an ideal.  A goal is something we wish to accomplish.  Some goals are short term while other goals are long term.  Some goals are even eternal goals.  A properly set goal needs to be clearly defined in writing with a time frame for accomplishing it.

                Even God sets goals.  When God spoke to Moses face to face, He explained His most important goal:  “For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39).  

                If setting goals is important to God, who can doubt that we should also set goals?  This knowledge does not come to children unless it is given to them.  Parents who desire to teach their children to set goals may want to use this family home evening plan.   The plan gives ideas on how to teach a lesson on setting goals and lists some suggestions for goals for different ages.  By helping their children learn to set and reach worthy goals, parents can strengthen their families, communities, and nations.