A recent scientific study* revealed one simple but amazingly effective thing you can do to stop procrastinating and finally achieve your God-honoring goals.

What important goals do you really want to achieve, but you keep putting them off?

• Do daily time with God?
• Take steps to find your life calling?
• Forgive someone?
• Lose weight or get healthy?
• Get organized?
• Spend less, save more?
• Quit smoking?
• Spend more time with family?
• Something else?

Dr. Gail Matthews, professor at the Dominican University of California, recruited 267 international volunteers, ages 23-72.

Each volunteer targeted specific goals at could be completed or almost completed in 4 weeks. Examples included completed projects, increased income, increased productivity, greater achievement, greater life balance, reduced anxiety, learning new skills, etc.

The volunteers were divided into 5 groups, as described below.

The success rate of each group is shown in red. (“Success” was defined as accomplishing the goal or getting at least halfway to the goal within 4 weeks.)

• Group 1: Just think about the goals. (43% successful)
• Group 2: Write the goals. (61% successful)
• Group 3: Write and commit to the goals. (50% successful)
• Group 4: Write and commit to the goals, and share the goals with a friend. (62% successful)
• Group 5: Write and commit to the goals, share the goals with a friend, and give the friend a weekly progress report. (75% successful)

You are probably not surprised that it is important to write your goals and commit to them. And you’re probably not surprised that accountability to a friend helps.

Just writing and telling a friend about your goal won’t get you much more traction than just thinking about them!

But here’s the one thing that most helps you achieve your goals: Reporting your progress to your friend every week.

The results of this study are consistent with Scripture.

God wants us to live in accountable community with one another:

Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Below is a simple step-by-step process for accomplishing your God-given goal:

1. Ask God to give you His goal for your life.
2. Write your goal.
3. Commit the goal to God.
4. Tell a friend about your goal.
5. Every week, give your friend a progress report.
6. Invite your friend pray for God’s goals, write them, commit to them, and give you weekly progress reports.
7. Celebrate!

How does this apply to you?

• What goals have you been putting off that you really want to accomplish?
• Who will be your accountability partner? This is the person to whom you will send weekly reports of your progress.
• Write and commit to your God-given goals, recruit your accountability partner, send weekly progress reports to him/her, and fulfill your divine calling!
• Christian coaching can help you set and accomplish your God-given goals! If you’ve been thinking about checking out coaching with R.J., why not schedule a free phone-in Discovery Call with her today? You can click here for info about affordable Christian life coaching, or click here to schedule a free phone-in Discovery Call with R.J.

Feel free to comment or ask a question below.

* To read the entire article about Dr. Matthews’ study, click here.