These days, we see many people whose lives appear to be going nowhere. Such people have few goals and make little effort to improve their lives, content to go with the flow and produce mediocrity. So many appear complacent, their lives stagnant. In many ways, our modern culture has sapped people's vitality, and as times worsen, they live in increasing despair. Too many have given up even running the marathon called life, much less trying to win it. Sadly, no prize will be awarded if no one runs the race!

More than a century ago, Theodore Roosevelt encouraged something quite the opposite:

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

God did not create human beings merely to exist. More importantly, He did not call people out of this world to drift through their converted lives. God has given Christians an opportunity to attain the most magnificent prize of all: to become like Him! Everything He does is to lead us toward His Kingdom and supply us with the spiritual help and strength to overcome our sinfulness, grow in righteous character, and produce fruit that pleases Him. He constantly motivates us to do all we can to reach the high standard of the life of Jesus Christ.

As an example of the proper mindset we need, the apostle Paul declares, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). He put all his energy into the fight to achieve that prize, his goal! He was willing to give up everything else, he writes, "if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:11).

God never intended the Christian life to be passive; He does not want His people just to wait for things to happen to them. If our goal is to be like Christ, we must live as Christ did. As He worked, we must work. As He overcame the world, we must overcome the world in ourselves. As He strove to do His Father's will in all things, so must we. We play a prominent role in changing and improving ourselves (Philippians 2:12), becoming skilled servants of God and His Son. To inherit God's Kingdom, we must pursue holiness with our whole being (Hebrews 12:14).

Pursuing such a goal requires a process to achieve it. Otherwise, we will become distracted and soon find ourselves off course. Attaining goals, whether physical or spiritual, requires a plan, procedure, and strategy to keep the goal-seeker focused, motivated, and steadfast throughout the entire process. Here are seven steps we can take to do this:

Step One: Define and set the goal. We are currently at different levels of knowledge and spiritual maturity, so our goals will reflect this reality. While our ultimate goal is the Kingdom of God, there are intermediate goals that will help us achieve that greater goal. Experts tell us that smaller, more reachable goals help us work toward the bigger ones. So, along the way, make specific, small, reachable goals to develop spiritual strength and faith.

Among Paul's primary goals was to do the work of God. He also desired to please God and Christ and serve the brethren. He pursued these goals in faith because he knew they were possible to achieve: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Step Two: List its rewards and benefits. Each goal should have a corresponding benefit or reward to motivate us to achieve it. Perhaps it is a better personal habit or a more winsome personality. Maybe it will increase our knowledge and understanding or allow us to serve our family and brethren better. Or perhaps, as Peter suggests in II Peter 1:5-8, a gain in one facet of God's righteousness will help us add other virtues later. As Paul writes in Galatians 6:8-9, "[H]e who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Step 3: Anticipate the obstacles. There will be obstacles, difficulties that impede our progress. We should name and meditate on as many as we can foresee, which provides a realistic picture of what we may face. Knowing that, we will respond more confidently when one gets in our way.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that evil spiritual forces will try to trip us up: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (see also I Peter 5:8). In addition, like Paul, we must be prepared to fight our carnal nature every step of the way as we attempt to do things it does not want to do (Romans 7:14-25).

Step Four: Preplan solutions. We must develop at least a basic solution for each obstacle to avoid or overcome it. If we are thorough, we will have already strategized about how to deal with many of the problems life, human nature, and adversaries throw in our way.

We can learn a great deal from God's faithful saints who have gone before us, that "great . . . cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) whose lives Scripture records. Most of all, as the next verse says, we need to be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." We can never go wrong by following His example.

Step Five: Determine actions to take. Without taking some kind of action, we will never make any progress toward our goal. Perhaps we need to take a class, rearrange our schedule, learn a new skill, join a group, or restore a relationship. Starting is the key. We need to get off square one and make a little progress so we can then make more progress.

Wise Solomon advises us, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). We do not have time to waste doing nothing or just drifting with the current (see Hebrews 2:1-3).

Step Six: Set an evaluation date. We should set a time, a few weeks or a month in the future, to evaluate what progress we are making. If we have been diligent, seeing our progress will motivate us to continue and work toward excellence in other areas. Again, Solomon teaches:

Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Don't turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27, Holman Christian Standard Bible)

We are responsible for traversing the path on which God has set each of us. Checking our progress will help us in "redeeming the time" (Ephesians 5:16) during these evil days. As Paul writes, "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed" (Romans 13:11).

Step Seven: Upon attaining the goal, affirm its achievement. This step is not a proud declaration of righteousness—an oxymoron—but a positive statement of accomplishment that helps make it real. Paul does this very thing in II Timothy 4:7-8:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

A statement like this recognizes our efforts and underscores the genuine rewards God promises His people for their diligence and endurance in overcoming a sinful heart and world. It makes us eager to plunge again into doing our part in God's work of creating children in His image.

Like Theodore Roosevelt, the apostle Paul encourages us to reach for great things:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

"Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind" (Philippians 3:15) as we reach for the ultimate goal of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.