Setting goals

- When I was in the MTC, I was having a hard time setting goals that I didn't have control over. For example, at the referral center, where you get to talk to people on the phone and ask if they're interested in having missionaries come over, you'll set goals on how many referrals you can get, or how many times you'll send the missionaries to someone's house. I hated this since I didn't control whether they agreed or not. So I made a personal goal to bear my testimony to everyone I talked to. THAT I could control, and it led to some of the people agreeing to have the missionaries over. And those who didn't agree, well, hopefully they felt the spirit. Anyways, this became a pattern for my mission. I focused on setting personal goals I could control and those helped me reach (or at least helped me work on) the goals I could not control. And even if I didn't reach the goals I couldn't control, I still felt like I had worked as hard as I could and maybe even made a difference in someone's life.
- Setting goals is a big part of missionary work. Try not to worry too much about the numbers though. Easier said than done, of course, but if you can do this, it'll make your life a lot happier. Numbers are important because they help you set and reach goals and they help you keep track of your progress. But don't get so tied up with numbers that you forget about the people they represent.
- You will receive a daily planner every 6 weeks. You will learn how to use it to plan and set goals at the MTC and in your first few weeks in the field. Do what they tell you to do with it! Using the planner correctly will help you be organized and will help you not waste time.