Goal achievement is vital to your growth. Goals are progressive; they build upon each other to create something you couldn't have envisioned until you accomplished the prior goal(s). Goal realization is such a common part of everyday life that sometimes we take it for granted. For example, think back to when you became a new driver. Your goal was to drive, but it came with multiple steps in order to drive successfully and legally, like pass a road test, fill up the car with gas, etc. Of course, you studied and practiced willingly (B) and you gladly worked to earn money to fill the gas tank because of your excitement (A) to reach the goal. But now imagine if you had run into a situation where you ran out of gas, or you lost your keys or you got into an accident - what did that do to your on-going goal of driving a car? Did you change your goal? Probably not. It may have dampened your enthusiasm and caused some goal frustration, but it didn't stop you from achieving your goal and then moving on to set new ones.

 

Being able to harness your emotions and channel positive energy back into the action steps that lead to the achievement of your goal builds what is called resiliency. Resiliency is a skill that shows flexibility and willingness to withstand the pressure to change your goal when you hit a roadblock. If you don't overcome roadblocks, or start over when you do fail, you will not be able to complete the skill building cycle discussed and pictured in "The Change Process". The picture shows an example of needing to complete a series of uninterrupted cycles of practicing the new behavior without fail. Resiliency uses an inner strength that pulls you through obstacles so you meet the goal and it is demonstrated in both attitude and behavior. It's like cognitive consistency in that your personality reveals a calm, determined optimism despite experiencing setbacks. Being able to bounce back from disappointment is vital to living a hopeful, vibrant, and progressive life.

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​You can build this skill by trying to reason yourself into persistence and run the risk of a developing a fragile ego or you can choose to put your faith in God so you possess the strength to muster up the confidence that drives you to try again, despite past failures (Hebrews 6:11-12). With God, instead of discouragement or choosing to change your goal, you'll fill your mind with knowledge and expectation that God will be with you and together you'll master those requirements on the way to goal achieval (Philippians 4:8). God's power source, the Holy Spirit, is in you when you believe and receive Christ. The identity you possess in Christ is founded on God’s love for you, grounded in Christ's character and reinforced by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. One interpretation of the phrase, "Have faith in God" is demonstrated in your humble acceptance of God's sovereignty, recognizing the truth of the words recorded by Isaiah 55:8-9:

     "My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are                higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

The underlying message to the verse is for you to show your trust in God. When you struggle with your motivation to continue through roadblocks to achieve your goal or when you struggle with doing the right thing as defined by psych-social societal standards/norms instead of doing those things that fulfill untamed urges and desires, remember God!

 

Reading on from there, in Isaiah 55:10-13, you find that when you do change your perspective to follow Godly standards, you'll attain peace and joy. This is because you learn to let hope, faith, and self-sacrifice drive your resiliency so you can tolerate the temporary discomfort of uncertainty and make the decision to delay or deny gratification of fleshly desires because you know God. Applying this to your thinking produces a focus shift that leads to actions of fervent pray, that never ceases, whether your prayers are answered the way you requested or not (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 5:16). To access the positive energy needed to make this happen, you must operate out of a healthy, balanced self-concept that is grounded in the Holy God;  an identity built on the love and forgiveness of a Sovereign and good God (Ephesians 1:11, 3:17-20, Revelation 4:11, Romans 8:28, Proverbs 16:19, Jeremiah 31:3). Your identity or association with God through Christ gives you the power and hope to regulate your emotional responses. The hope that comes alive from faith energizes your every decision.

• The possession of this identity may be hard for you to recognize in yourself, but it’s easily observable to others. Don’t let defense mechanisms, like false pride and independence block your self-image. They shut out the trust and vulnerability needed to be able to gain access to this new Christian identity (2 Corinthians 4:7, 12:9, James 4:7, 1 Peter 2:9, 5:6, read Appendix 2N). ​

 

Making good, but risky Christian decisions (as defined by secular odds not being in your favor or decisions that aren't popular), is more common in a Christian who actually walks the talk of Christianity. Author David A. Sherwood, Ph.D., LICSW, ACSW, (1988), says this, "Ultimately, “doing the right thing” results from our making judgments that grow out of our character as we are “changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Continuing to make cognitively consistent decisions amid uncertainty is what most people would label as having the trait of Christian resilience.

 

As a Christian, your faith is elastic; the more confidence you have, the more faith energizes your every decision. Hope gives you the energy, and faith gives you the courage, but it trust that encourages you to wait on God's timing to implement His creative solutions. When you practice self-discipline by shunning your human tendency to struggle with worry from a negative imagination, you become a reflection of what is possible with God - the ability to do things differently so you get different results (Sweetman, D., Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., & Luthans, B. C. (2011), Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 32:27).​

 

Being a resilient Christian helps you to stay focused on your goals, even in hard/bad times. Hope inspires persistence and makes you more willing to take risks to achieve the promises of God. A Christian's faith is seen by others as taking value-based decisions and expressing goal-directed actions or, said another way, is seen when you go after what your faith is sure of but you don't see in the physical world (Hebrews 11:1).