How Are Your Goals Really Going?

By now, January has lost its new-year shine. Planners are less pristine? The routines are either taking root… or quietly slipping. That makes this moment—about three weeks into 2026—far more honest than January 1 ever was.

Jesus offers a deceptively simple framework for moments like this:

“But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted.”— John 15:7 (NLT)

This verse isn’t a promise that God rubber-stamps our goals. It’s an invitation to examine where those goals are coming from.

Earlier this month, the focus was on abiding—remaining, dwelling, staying connected. John 15 doesn’t frame growth as hustle or willpower. It frames it as attachment. Branches don’t strain to produce fruit. They stay connected, and fruit follows.

So here’s the gentle but necessary mid-January check-in:

How are your goals going—and more importantly—what are they attached to? Many yearly goals stall not because they were bad ideas, but because they were built on sheer effort alone. Discipline without connection eventually collapses into fatigue. Motivation burns hot, then fast. Abiding works differently. It starts upstream. Jesus links alignment "my words remain in you” with desire “you may ask”. Over time, what we want begins to shift. Goals become less about proving something and more about becoming someone. Less about control, more about congruence.

If you’re still on track, that’s worth noticing. Not congratulating yourself in a performative way, but quietly acknowledging: something here is sustainable. If you’ve already drifted, that’s not failure—it’s feedback. It tells you where striving may have replaced staying.

This is a good week to ask a few grounding questions:

• Am I forcing progress, or am I nurturing connection?

• Are my goals asking me to produce fruit without remaining rooted?

• What would it look like to re-attach before I re-commit?

Abiding doesn’t cancel goals. It redeems them. It moves the focus from How hard am I pushing? to What am I staying connected to?

January doesn’t need a restart. It needs a realignment. Fruit comes later. Staying comes first. It's not too late to get back on track and make your 2026 goals a reality. Start today!

Our team at MindRight Counseling is here to help. If you need help with your goals or maybe improving mental health is your goal. Check us out and let us know how we can help.