Nehemiah's Secret to Completing Goals

Why resolutions fail without purpose and what the Bible teaches about goal-setting.

New Year’s resolutions are great. I love the start of the year because, more than any other time, you get to see people’s drive and desire to improve manifest in productive action.

January goes to show that most people actually want to change, want to strive towards something better, and are willing to put in the work to get there. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s inspiring. It’s a shame that the motivation and willpower that most people have on January 1st fades a couple of weeks into the year, so that most end up quitting their resolutions as early as February.

Most will claim that this failure is due to laziness, but I believe there’s a more complex set of reasons why most men give up on the goals they set, not only as new year’s resolutions, but in general. People simply do not know how to properly set and pursue goals.

Most people’s resolutions lack a solid foundation in the form of a deeper purpose worth suffering for, and a guiding framework to improve the odds of success. Thus, most approach their resolutions blindly and chaotically, without any guidance or clarity.

Thankfully, as with most things, the Bible can show us the way.

---

---

The Story of Nehemiah: A Lesson in Accomplishing Goals

The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
— Nehemiah 1:1-4

I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.

By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.

They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
— Nehemiah 2: 11-18

The book of Nehemiah is a great example of purposeful goal-setting and execution. In it, we are told the story of Nehemiah, and how he committed to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after they had been torn down and burnt.

When Nehemiah first heard about the state of Jerusalem, he wept. Finding a deeper purpose for our goals very often requires pain, because a worthy cause to pursue stems from a deep pain, and a sincere desire to save others from it, or help them navigate it.

So, with Jerusalem in ruins, the walls seemingly impossible to rebuild, enemies surrounding, and limited resources, Nehemiah wept. He felt the pain of the current state of things, but he didn’t stay there.

In chapter 2, Nehemiah teaches us another lesson: he took immediate action. He heard God’s calling, and he answered it without delay. He didn’t wait for the perfect time, but started moving straight away.

If God puts a purpose in your heart, it’s cowardly, prideful, and irresponsible not to pursue it.

The story of Nehemiah is deep and extremely meaningful, and from it we can extract a framework for goal-setting and completion that will all but guarantee we accomplish our goals and successfully stick to our New Year’s resolutions this 2026.

But before we go over that framework, we need to first understand in detail why most resolutions fail.

---

---

Why Your Resolutions Fail

The difference between Nehemiah's goal and ours was that his was built on a foundation that couldn't crumble: deep purpose, prayer-aligned direction, a specific plan, community accountability, and expectation of difficulty.

Too often, our resolutions are built on sand instead: vague wishes ("get in shape"), self-driven ambition without seeking God's will, no specific plan or measurements, solo effort with zero accountability, and unrealistic expectations that the first obstacle means failure.

It’s cool to set goals, but doing so without aligning them with a clear, deep, meaningful purpose is as useful as setting no goals at all.

Discipline and brute force will only take you so far, because in the scale of “things that get you to take action consistently and persevere,” there’s a level above discipline, and it’s purpose.

With purpose, discipline comes easier, because you will have an answer to the pestering question that bothers everyone who tries to accomplish something difficult:

“What even is the point of all this effort?”

If your goals serve a deeper purpose, you have an answer.

Of course, it’s not always easy to know that purpose, but thankfully, once again, Nehemiah’s story can guide us, and we can learn from his framework how to ensure that those big goals we set at the beginning of the year don’t become just another failed attempt.