When planning our goals for 2020 we could consider these suggestions from President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later- day Saints.
Addressing the students during Thursday’s commencement exercises for LDS Business College, in 2011, when he was still a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Russell M. Nelson urged graduates to commence the rest of their lives by pursuing goals of
“great, greater, and greatest” importance.”
Similarly, in his book “Accomplishing the Impossible: What God Does, What We Can Do“, President Nelson writes that we should have goals that are great, greater, and greatest.
Great goals I relate to temporal attainment. You will continue to set great goals for yourself and achieve them one by one.
Greater goals I relate to developing your attributes of character. Attributes of character are worthy of our attention as we strive to become whom we ought to be.
“Goals to do can be incremental; goals to be can be monumental.
Some of greater goals are the attribute of love, kindness, compassion, courtesy, mercy, gratitude, and so on.
For example, President Nelson writes that because he served for many years as a cardiac surgeon, he developed a deep sense of gratitude for the heart.
“However, One goal, and one goal alone, should become your greatest goal. What is that? It is the goal of eternal life. That goal is God’s goal. That goal is God’s glory. The Lord has decreed that “eternal life . . . is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” This gift is a conditional gift. One must qualify for it by keeping the commandments of God and enduring to the end. That end includes the endowment and sealing ordinances of the holy temple. Through the blessings, ordinances, and covenants of the temple, families can be together forever.”
“Pursue your goals—great, greater, and greatest—to the end that you may qualify for exaltation and eternal life in the presence of your Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ with your families,”
