God put man in the garden for two reasons: to work it and to keep it (Gen 2:15).  True men take care of the “gardens” of their life.  Whether it’s their spirituality, sexuality, marriage, children, job, health, talents, treasure, time, or whatever – a truly masculine man takes the “gardens” that are given him and cultivates them to be better, more beautiful, orderly, and fruitful.

True men have vision and goals.  They’re not meandering thru life, lazy and aimless.  They’re diligent to find out what God’s called them to and quick to cultivate that which they are responsible for.  A man without vision is an unrestrained man (Prov 29:18).  Vision is like a seat belt, keeping us in the vehicle on the road to accomplishing the tasks necessary to cultivate our gardens.  When we crash into the obstacles of life, vision keeps us from being thrown out of the vehicle.

What are you aiming at?  Do you have vision and goals for the gardens of your life?

Few things will suck the masculinity right out of you as a man, as much as neglecting vision and failing to set goals.

“Aimlessness is akin to lifelessness.” (John Piper)

Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time.  If you’re not aiming at something, you’re not hitting anything.

Setting goals is a practical way to start cultivating the gardens of your life.

Most of the time, there’s not a whole lot of difference between the men who did great things and the men who did nothing, other than getting vision for something and going for it.

Ben Nockels is a great example of this. Look at the absolutely amazing thing he’s accomplishing by getting a goal for the year and going for it.  Be inspired and set your own goals.

111 Project

See also: 10 Tips For Effective Goal Setting
Audio message: The Importance of Goal Setting

(Image Credit: The Library of Congress)