From So To Who

Means Goals (So Goals)

How do you know if your goal is a means goal?

On the other side of the goal is a so.

    • “I want to get good grades so I can go to a good college, so I can get a good job, and so I can make lots of money.”1

    • “I want to lose weight so I can look better in my clothes, so I can attract someone decent to date, and so I can get married.”1

“…if there’s a so on the other side, we’re training ourselves to defer contentment to the future.”

Craig Groeschel

Instead, we need goals and habits that lead to an end.

“When becoming more like Jesus is the driving force of your life, success is no longer out there somewhere.”1

“As followers of Jesus we want goals that are not about what we are getting or what we are doing but about who we are becoming.”1

“Not getting, not doing, becoming.”1

“That’s the thing about our habits. We think of them as actions, but they are way more than that,
Because our habits define our identities.”1

    • I start a new habit of eating right. Why? Because I am becoming more like Jesus. And when I eat right, I am honoring God by being a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

    • I start a new habit of waking up earlier. Why? Because I want to create time to read my Bible. Why? Because I am becoming more like Jesus. And reading the Bible renews my mind so I can take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

    • I stop an old habit of looking at porn. Why? Because I am becoming more like Jesus. When I don’t lust after images, I can live a pure life of integrity (Col. 3:5-7).

“If you want to change who you’re becoming, change your habits”1

“The small things no one sees can lead to the big results everyone wants.”1

“Success happens not by accident but by habits.”1

“If success happens by habits, what habit do you need to start? What habit do you need to stop so you can become more like Jesus?”1

“As Christ followers, our and goal, our ultimate win, our true mark of success is becoming more like him.”1

Exercise

To close out this section, consider how you may have made your goals “means goals” (or so goals). Use this pattern to change your current and future goals from means goals to end goals.

MY MEANS/SO GOAL

I want to [BLANK] so l can [BLANK] so l can
so l can [BLANK] so l can [BLANK].

MY END GOAL

I want to start a new habit of [BLANK].
Why? Because I am becoming more like Jesus. And when I [BLANK] l am/I can.
[BLANK].

Source: (Groeschel, 2023)

Principle

Success is becoming more like Jesus.1

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Philippians 3:8 NLT

Sources:

[1] Groeschel, C. (2023). The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most. Zondervan.

Show Notes

Episode Description

In this episode, we discuss the chapter From So to Who which is about goals. This episode was part of a study inspired by The Power To Change by Craig Groeschel. Each week, I take concepts from Pastor Craig Groeschel’s book, The Power To Change, and apply them to brain health.

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Transcript

0:00:00.000,0:00:05.580
Hello and welcome to The Overflow Podcast. My name
is Craig Booker. The title of this episode

0:00:05.580,0:00:13.800
is From So To Who. A lot of the material for this
week’s episode was inspired by Craig Groeschel’s

0:00:13.800,0:00:19.980
book The Power to Change, Mastering the Habits
That Matter Most. Note: I will talk a lot about

0:00:19.980,0:00:25.260
mental health, but please note this is not a
substitute for therapy or mental health care

0:00:25.260,0:00:30.960
I am not a counselor or a physician. If you need
help with mental health challenges, please find a

0:00:30.960,0:00:38.700
qualified mental health professional. The title
of this episode is From So To Who. Last week we

0:00:38.700,0:00:46.080
discussed how to stop before you flop we’re
talking about how to stop bad habits and that

0:00:46.080,0:00:55.260
was a follow-up to starting new habits and so this
week we are the title is from so to who all right

0:00:55.260,0:01:01.680
so in this section of the book Craig Rochelle
is talking about goals and he talked about

0:01:01.680,0:01:08.700
this realization that he came to he realized
he had been practicing I believe he called

0:01:08.700,0:01:16.800
it productivity or something of that nature for
like 20 or 30 years he realized he had a problem

0:01:17.340,0:01:25.080
with the way that he was approaching things he
realized that he was making goals that were really

0:01:25.080,0:01:33.180
not benefiting him initially but far out into the
future his goals were a means to an end how do you

0:01:33.180,0:01:41.280
know if your goal is a means goal he says on the
other side of the goal is a so for example I want

0:01:41.280,0:01:49.980
to get good grades so I can get or so I can go to
a good college so I can get a good job and so I

0:01:49.980,0:01:57.360
can make lots of money so his goals were these so
goals doing something so he can do something else

0:01:57.360,0:02:03.660
so he can do something else the other example is
I want to lose weight so I can look better in my

0:02:03.660,0:02:10.500
clothes and I can attract someone decent to date
and so I can get married Greg Rochelle says if

0:02:10.500,0:02:16.260
there’s a so on the other side we’re training
ourselves to defer contentment to the Future

0:02:16.260,0:02:24.540
instead said we need goals and habits that lead
to an end when becoming more like Jesus is the

0:02:24.540,0:02:30.960
driving force of your life success is no longer
out there somewhere as followers of Jesus we want

0:02:30.960,0:02:38.520
goals that are not about what we are getting or
what we are doing but about who we are becoming

0:02:39.540,0:02:50.340
not getting not doing but becoming so this goes
back to our who not do if you remember uh we’ve

0:02:50.340,0:02:55.740
discussed you know our goals need to support
who we are trying to become or who we feel

0:02:55.740,0:03:02.400
called to become not just something one we want
to achieve so this is along those same lines so

0:03:02.400,0:03:09.780
it says that’s the thing about our habits
we think of them as actions but they are

0:03:09.780,0:03:16.800
way more than that because our habits Define
our identities so he’s taking goals from just

0:03:16.800,0:03:23.700
something what we want to achieve or doing a goal
so that we can do something else so that we can

0:03:23.700,0:03:31.380
do something else to it becoming it’s a part of
our identity who we are the examples here are I

0:03:31.380,0:03:39.480
I start a new habit of eating right why because
I am becoming more like Jesus and when I eat

0:03:39.480,0:03:45.720
right I am honoring God by being a temple of
the Holy Spirit the verse referenced here is

0:03:45.720,0:03:53.880
First Corinthians 6 19-20 and then the second one
was I start a new habit of waking up earlier why

0:03:53.880,0:04:02.460
because I want to create time to read my Bible why
because I am becoming more like Jesus and reading

0:04:02.460,0:04:10.320
the Bible renews my mind so I can take my thoughts
captive and make them obedient to Christ the verse

0:04:10.320,0:04:18.780
reference here is second Corinthians 10 5. third
I stop an old habit of looking at porn why because

0:04:18.780,0:04:25.800
I am becoming more like Jesus when I don’t lust
after images I can live a Pure Life of Integrity

0:04:25.800,0:04:33.600
Colossians 3 5-7 quote it from Craig Rochelle if
you want to change who you’re becoming change your

0:04:33.600,0:04:40.680
habits another quote the Small Things no one sees
can lead to the big results every everyone wants

0:04:40.680,0:04:49.320
success happens not by accident but by habits if
success happens by habits what habit do you need

0:04:49.320,0:04:57.060
to start what habit do you need to stop so you
can become more like Jesus as Christ followers our

0:04:57.060,0:05:05.220
goal our ultimate win our true Mark of success
is becoming more like him so you can see this

0:05:05.220,0:05:11.640
progression we’re we’re not doing this so we can
do something else we are doing this because it

0:05:11.640,0:05:18.000
makes us more like Christ we are doing this more
because it makes us into the person we are trying

0:05:18.000,0:05:24.600
to become our who this week we have an exercise
and it says to close out this section consider

0:05:24.600,0:05:33.480
how you may have made your goals means goals or so
goals use this pattern to change your current and

0:05:33.480,0:05:42.120
future goals from means goals to end goals okay so
in this exercise we are looking at maybe habits or

0:05:42.120,0:05:48.300
goals that we’ve started or written down that we
want to accomplish and we’re looking at them to

0:05:48.300,0:05:54.660
make sure that they’re not the so type of goals
we want to make sure they’re in line with who we

0:05:54.660,0:06:03.420
want to become or if we’re working to become more
like Jesus the outline shows my means or so goal

0:06:03.960,0:06:12.240
I want to blank so I can blank so I can blank so
I can blank my end goal would be I want to start a

0:06:12.240,0:06:20.760
new habit of blank why because I am becoming more
like Jesus and when I blank I am or I can blank

0:06:20.760,0:06:27.720
these are just ideas for like a format to help you
restructure those goals or kind of reflect on the

0:06:27.720,0:06:32.400
goals that you have or the habits you’re trying
to start making sure they’re more in line with who

0:06:32.400,0:06:38.520
you want to become whether that is the person God
has called you to be or if that’s becoming more

0:06:38.520,0:06:45.720
like Jesus so if that is an exercise as always
I encourage you to do that during your week is

0:06:45.720,0:06:52.020
to look at the habits that you started look at the
goals that you have and and just put them through

0:06:52.020,0:07:00.240
this process and see if they’re a goal so that
you can do something else or if they’re so you can

0:07:00.240,0:07:06.300
become the person you’re called to be all right
so the principle for this section is success is

0:07:06.300,0:07:12.180
becoming more like Jesus the scripture for this
section is Philippians 3 8 from the New Living

0:07:12.180,0:07:18.900
Translation yes everything else is worthless when
compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ

0:07:18.900,0:07:25.560
Jesus my Lord this section is rather short which
is fine allows us plenty of time to discuss where

0:07:25.560,0:07:33.480
we are personally in this process to you know
apply this section to what we’re already doing

0:07:34.500,0:07:38.640
um and see if it changes anything that
we’re doing if I were to try to apply

0:07:38.640,0:07:46.440
this to some of the things I’m working on
I have habits or goals that I’m working on

0:07:47.160,0:07:55.080
related to my sleep and also to my physical
health like what I’m right now it’s what I’m

0:07:55.080,0:08:04.080
eating if I were to phrase those goals as the
so goals or like he calls them means goals

0:08:04.080,0:08:12.240
I would I would maybe put it I’m trying to get
better sleep so that I can have lower anxiety or

0:08:12.240,0:08:21.180
I’m trying to eat better so that I can lose
weight so that I get better sleep so that

0:08:21.180,0:08:29.640
I lower my anxiety you see how that’s a a so or a
a mean skulls like a means to an end uh and then

0:08:29.640,0:08:38.220
if I wanted to reword these and and make them into
an end goal I would I would maybe say I want to

0:08:38.220,0:08:45.720
start eating better because when I eat better it
allows me to live out who God has called me to be

0:08:45.720,0:08:54.120
that’s making a shift from so that goals to uh an
end goal and so I’m not delaying the gratification

0:08:54.120,0:09:00.900
the way out in the future I’m shifting at
my focus and I’m becoming a different person

0:09:01.620,0:09:09.840
but that that’s kind of my interpretation of this
section is changing those goals so they more in

0:09:09.840,0:09:14.760
line with who we’re trying to become that’s all
for this episode thank you for watching if you

0:09:14.760,0:09:19.260
like the video give us a thumbs up and be sure to
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Last updated on: 02/03/2024

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