The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
We're all about helping create a healthy, positive, and spiritually positive environment for church staff members and leadership teams.
The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Why Church Staff Fail New Year Goals And How to Actually Stick
Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com
Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.
- - - - -
Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.
Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.
Hey, it's January 5th, and you're back at the office today for the first time this year. And your inbox has 247 unread emails. And three families want meetings about urgent issues. And the worship pastor needs song approvals by noon. And somewhere in your desk drawer, somewhere, is that notebook where you wrote down all those New Year's goals before you left the office before Christmas. The ones that already honestly feel like a joke. Sound familiar? Let's talk about it here today. On the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, I'm your host, Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffing.com. Here's what nobody tells you about your first day back in the office this year on January 5th. January 1st was the inspiration. January 5th is the perspiration. Okay, the gap between your goals and your Monday morning reality may have just slapped your right smack dab in the face. And you're not lazy, you're not disillusioned, you're just human. But here's where it gets tricky for church staff, okay? And it all goes to the way that we set our personal goals. And yes, even those New Year's resolutions. I call it the ministry trap. You set personal goals like you're a normal person, okay? But you're not in a lot of ways because ministry doesn't operate on a normal schedule. You're probably already finding that out this morning after being gone for a week and a half or two weeks. People have crises on your workout days. Emergencies don't respect your reading plan that you had all set up for this year. Your early morning quiet time sometimes gets hijacked by the facilities guy with a broken boiler. Now listen, wanting to grow isn't the problem. Wanting to do better in the new year isn't a problem. The approach might be though, and you may be setting yourself up for free. Let's talk about what we can do to maybe find maybe a more ministry reality approach to goals, okay? I think you should stop setting goals like you work a nine to five job, because you just don't. Just like doctors, sometimes you're on call 24-7 as a church staff person. So you need to change your goals accordingly because one little thing, one crisis, one thing that pops up on your schedule when you said you were gonna do something and you can't because you're gonna do something else because your presence is required. You need to build those goals that bend without breaking. And this is really tough for me because I like to, once it's on my calendar, I like to stick to it. And if something else comes on, it's really hard for me just to not just throw up my hands and say, that ain't gonna happen today. Instead of saying, hey, I'm gonna read for 30 minutes every morning, say something like, I'll try to read for 20 minutes sometime before lunch. Instead of rigid gym times, find movement that fits that ministry rhythm. And think in seasons, not in perfection. Not everything has to go exactly like you had planned on your calendar. Ministry is interruption heavy work. No matter what your role at the church and your goals need to account for that reality, or else you're just setting yourself up for failure and to get really disappointed in yourself. The best church leaders don't have perfect habits, they have flexible systems that help them to grow. They build margin into their growth plans for the new year. Your new year goals aren't failing because you lack discipline. Maybe I know I have trouble with discipline, and it's only January 5th, right? Your goals usually aren't failing because of lack of discipline, at least this early in the year. They're failing because they don't fit your actual life. So the challenge this week, I want you to pick one thing, one goal. I don't know how I don't some people do a lot of New Year's resolutions, some don't do any at all. But my challenge for you this week, on this first day back in the office, this week, if you feel like you're already goofed up, pick one goal. One thing that you think matters most, and then rewrite it with more of a ministry reality in mind. Build in those interruptions instead of pretending that they won't happen. January 5th doesn't have to be the day that your goal dies. It can be the day that you make it real. Thanks for listening. Share this with a staff member who needs to hear it. And uh quick question before we wrap up here today. Are you dealing with in this new year with maybe multiple staff transitions where you think you're going to? It maybe it feels like everybody just all of a sudden is contemplating moving. And a lot of times that happens in January in the new year. Tomorrow we're going to dive into why staff changes look a lot different in 2026 and how they actually manage, how to actually manage those transitions without losing your mind. Again, it's one of those things where you're trying to get back on track in the new year, and then things like staff transitions, a freight train, just kind of roll in and break everything up. Trust me, you'll want to grab your coffee for this one tomorrow. So I'll see you right here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Have an absolutely great first day back.
