Change Your Life: Define Your Goals

By Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, New York, New York

WEB EXCLUSIVE

What’s your goal in life?

It’s important to constantly ask, "Why was I born? For what purpose did I come into this world? What am I supposed to do here?" Answers to these questions will shape your life goal, which will bring meaning to your life.

But, you may ask, how do you reach your goal? By the application of twin principles: to will and to believe. Will power is the process by which you tap the enormous force that’s in you. Believing is the process by which you surrender yourself to the power of God. So "to will" means to bring out your personal power; "to believe" means to bring out God's power. If you really begin to practice these principles, you’ll find that your achievements can be astonishing.

A friend of mine told me a story about a young California couple. Things were difficult, but they had a goal: They wanted to have a home that would be filled with love and beauty. They talked about the house they wanted. It was the big goal in their early life.

One night the wife sat down and drew a picture of the house—a complete floor plan, upstairs and down—and mapped out a garden. She showed it to her husband and said, "This is my dream house."

Though the couple had little money, he said, "Let's hold to our dream and to the belief that one day we'll have that house." They looked everywhere trying to find such a home. Real estate agents showed them one house after another, but they did not find it. So they sat down and prayed about it and visualized themselves being led to it.

One night they were talking with friends about their dream house. One of the friends said, "Why, the house you are describing is well known to me; it belongs to a Mr. Davies. His wife died, but he continues to live there. He has turned down offers for three times its price. He won't sell it until he finds a couple who will love the house as he and his wife did."

"Please take us there," the couple said. When they saw the house, the man and his wife were overwhelmed. It was exactly as it had been pictured in their diagram. Mr. Davies, a kind man, saw the love for this house in the eyes of this young couple. "I've turned down everyone else, waiting for the couple to come along for whom this house was intended," he said.

They were thrilled. But they had to face reality; it was beyond their means.

"Some things are more important than money," said Mr. Davies. "This is your dream house, isn't it? All right, you write your own terms, and I will help you to have this house." The contract was drawn. This couple had practiced the great law: Belief is visualization, dreaming, conviction and will. As a result, they reached their cherished goal.

Believe, dream, will—and put it all in the hands of God. Work, struggle, visualize! These are the great principles bound up in the text, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Get it into your mind and get going, and you will reach your greatest goals.
If these techniques fail, as they sometimes will, ask yourself: "Have I failed because I have some ‘dirt’ in the mind?" By "dirt" I mean wrongdoing. Something that clogs, accumulates, creates "carbon" in the mental processes and corrodes the soul.