Smile Praise Miracle

Smile Praise Miracle.  Or, rather: Smile, Praise, and Miracle.  Some things make you smile.  Others make you want to give a shout of praise.  And others are flat-out miracles.

Goal setting.  Should you set goals or not?  And, if you do, how do you go about this?

And as far as that goes, it’s your call.  Most people, if you ask them, would say it’s good to set goals.  But, then there’s the next question: How many people actually set goals?

We’ll get back to the three adjectives of smile praise miracle in a minute or two.

The Extremes

In my observation, I can generalize that:

• People don’t set goals at all.
• People set goals just for the sake of setting them.  And, it’s either general or grandiose such as “stay in business” or “become a Fortune 500 Company overnight.”
• People set goals, but nothing is usually done to reach them.

Smile Praise Miracle

So, what is Smile Praise Miracle?  I’ll tell you.

I have know Dr. Norm Whan for the better part of 35+ years.  Dr. Norm, as I call him, is the Founder of Canning Hunger, an organization that helps feed hungry people.

And, he’s also involved in other philanthropic enterprises.  One of these was a program called “Phones For You.”  This program has been used across America for launching brand new churches (and building existing churches).  To make a long story short, this process looks like this:

• Volunteers make about 20,000 phone calls.
• Out of 20,000 phone calls, 10,000 people answer.
• Out of the 10,000 that answer, roughly 2,000 will honestly answer that they don’t attend Church.
• And, finally, out of the 2,000 (and after about seven strategic and meaningful contacts) of these people, 200 or so will hopefully show up for church on a given “launch” day.

Close Enough?

Dr. Norm wrote a book about this program.  Recently, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Norm.  He recounts, in one particular instance that one of the adherents told him that his program “failed.”  Dr. Norm asked him what he meant by saying the program “failed.”  And, the person went on to tell him that only 197 people showed up for the church launch (vs. the 200 expected).

Failure?  Probably an overstatement, right?  Was the program successful?  Well, yes.

But, Dr. Norm began revising his goal-setting into three buckets:

1. Smile Goal: One that can be achieved with reasonable effort.
2. Praise Goal: One that can be achieved with significant effort.
3. Miracle Goal: One that, if achieved, you know is a miracle from the hands of God.

I like those breakdowns.  So, when it comes to goal-setting, maybe you and your organization might consider following a similar approach.  This way, you can avoid the emotional turmoil of a “pass” or “fail” approach.

You may also want to consider this next idea.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If you go about setting goals (and if done correctly), it can have a similar effect as the process in the popular book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” written by Laura Numeroff.

• “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.”
• “When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw.”
• “When he’s finished, he’ll ask for a napkin.”

And So it Goes With Goal-Setting

If you decide to set goals, then the process might look like this:

• If you set a goal, you’re going to think about what needs to happen to get you there.
• And, if you start thinking about what needs to happen to get you there, you’re going to need to do something different or incremental.
• And, if you need to do something different or incremental, what is/are the best thing(s) to do?

Conclusion

And that, my friends, is what setting goals is all about.  As the saying goes, “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”

So, after you set your goals using the smile praise miracle method, commit them to God, pray like crazy, dig in, and put your plans into motion.

Contact us!  We’d love to help you in this process.