Embracing Progression

I was always told that I was a goal-setter growing up. That I naturally gravitated towards a schedule, being organized and using my time wisely.

Then I became a teenager.

The only way  I can describe this change of personality is with the word 'rebellion'. I rebelled against making goals.

Why? Because goals are for people who can't promote change in their lives with pure willpower. Perhaps it's because goals are for people who need to change. For me, I think, was the fact that I didn't like failing. And making goals was just setting me up for failure.

I remember sitting in Young Women's thinking, "why is personal progress so necessary? I'm a good person, I just don't write things down!"

Because of this aversion to goals, I haven't received my YW Medallion yet. I'm almost done, but I don't quite have it. Why does this bother me now?

I have learned since living on my own, that goal-setting is absolutely ESSENTIAL. If you want to facilitate change, you have to make goals. I've learned that by refusing to make goals, I was refusing to progress. God's plan is all about progression, and I neglected that.

I can't say I didn't make goals, because I did. But it wasn't a conscious thought of what I am doing daily to improve. And now, sitting here, I wish that I would have practiced that skill better in high school. I have so many things that I have to get done during the day, and it seems as though your day just fills up more, the older you get. How am I supposed to be a mother, if I can't even get my homework done? How am I supposed to teach my future kids life skills if I only ever have enough time for the basics?

Tonight I attended a seminar about the Learning Model at BYU-Idaho. The Learning Model has three basic steps: prepare, teach, and ponder. By preparing for class, I am better able to teach others about what I learn, which in turn leads to a strengthened testimony, or more knowledge. If I give my time to the Lord, the Lord will give me the time to do what I need.

Though I'm a long-shot from perfection, I know I can do it. I am going to embrace progression and realize that it is part of God's plan to constantly be learning.