I told you yesterday about how reading the Bible, along with prayer and meditation on a Bible passage, is a part of my morning routine. Today, I’m going to tell you about how I spend the first few minutes of every morning: writing down my goals. This practice, though not generally considered part of a devotional time, may be the most significant stage in the process, believe it or not. What I’ve discovered is that writing down your goals allows you to perceive Jesus as a helper rather than as someone who is uninterested in bringing you where you want to go. When you realize that God loves you and wants to help you live a successful and full life, writing down your goals becomes a spiritual activity that grows out of prayer and Bible study.

It’s important to note that when I write down my goals, I do so as if they’ve already been achieved. This is because science has shown that when we do so, we are psychologically closer to believing that things have become reality. For example, instead of writing, “I want to workout more,” you’d write, “I workout more,” or, “I have better physical fitness.” I begin with my spiritual objectives, which are essentially about who I want to be as a Christian. Then I write down my family goals, or who I want to be as a father and spouse.