Leadership & Calling – Peter Gowesky

Mid-Year Reset: Why Your Goals Might Be Off Track (and What to Do About It)

May 20, 2025 No Comments

Can you believe we’re already halfway through 2025? It feels like we just rang in the New Year—but here we are. The days are flying, the calendar is filling up, and somewhere along the way, those big goals we set in January… may have started to fizzle.

If that’s where you are right now, take a deep breath. You’re not alone. In fact, I’m right there with you.

I had a few goals I was fired up about back in January—some big ones, honestly. But somewhere between the school drop-offs, work projects, and late-night chips and salsa sessions (yes, that one’s still going strong), I lost a little steam.

And you know what?

That’s okay.

Goals aren’t sacred. They’re not laws. They’re markers. Targets. They’re tools to help you move forward, not sticks to beat yourself with.

But now that we’re in the thick of the year, it might be time for a reset. A check-in. A “monitor and adjust” moment.

Two Big Reasons Your Goals Derail

1. Your goals aren’t clear.

Saying “I want to get in shape” sounds great… but what does that mean? Walk more? Lift weights? Drop 10 pounds? Eat fewer jelly donuts? (Let’s not get crazy.)

Try this:

Instead of saying, “I want to be healthier,” reframe it: “I want to walk 10,000 steps a day at least five days a week.”

Specific. Measurable. Achievable.

Now go further—what are 3 small steps you can take this week to get moving?

2. You ran out of discipline

Here’s the truth about discipline: it’s not a personality trait, it’s a muscle. And just like muscles, it weakens when it’s not used and strengthens when it’s trained.

Discipline means doing what needs to be done—even when it’s not convenient. That might mean skipping the drive-thru, logging your progress, or walking past the donut box at work without making eye contact.

If your discipline has slipped, don’t quit. Rebuild. Start again with something small and consistent.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up—Recalibrate

If you’re not where you thought you’d be by now—give yourself grace. But don’t stay stuck. You can course correct. You can finish stronger than you started.

Ask yourself:

Where am I now?
Where do I want to be?
What’s the next small step I can take today?

You don’t need a new year to start fresh. You just need a new decision.

Let’s reset and finish well.

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

The Strength in the Same: Why Self-Leadership Is Built in the Mundane

May 15, 2025 No Comments

We want the results, but rarely the routine.

We admire the strength in others, but often avoid the path it took to get there.

But here’s the truth: you don’t build resilience in front of a crowd. You build it in the quiet, hidden spaces of discipline and repetition.

There’s a kind of glory in the grind—an unseen strength that forms not in sprints, but in the slow, daily rhythm of showing up again.

This is self-leadership: doing the hard, holy work when no one’s watching.

Greatness Starts in the Mundane

You won’t always feel like reading your Bible, taking care of your body, showing up early, or having that hard conversation. But the disciplined life is the developed life.

J. Oswald Sanders puts it this way in Spiritual Leadership:

“The emerging leader eats right, stands tall, and prepares himself to wage spiritual warfare. He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant tasks that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it wins no public applause.”

That’s the kind of leader the world is desperate for—someone who embraces the mundane because they know what it builds.

Proverbs Wisdom: Discipline Pays Off

The Bible is full of wisdom on this topic. It doesn’t glorify the hustle for applause—it lifts up diligence and daily faithfulness:

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”

Proverbs 21:5 NIV

And again:

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.”

Proverbs 20:13 NIV

These verses don’t just talk about work ethic—they describe an internal posture. A kind of spiritual readiness that’s formed when we say yes to the same faithful steps, over and over.

Don’t Despise the Daily

You won’t always get immediate results. Sometimes all you get is sore muscles, quiet mornings, and another day of “nothing big.” But what’s happening underneath is everything.

Muscle is forming.

Character is being shaped.

Trust is being built.

You are becoming the kind of person who can be trusted with more.

Self-leadership begins before anyone else calls you a leader. It starts with your alarm clock, your attitude, your private obedience. So today, don’t rush past the mundane. Lean into it. Get up. Do the thing again. And again. And again.

It won’t feel like success. But it will build the strength to carry it.

What’s one mundane routine you’ve been tempted to skip lately? Drop it in the comments or share this post with someone who needs to be reminded that the small things matter.

In Faith in Real Life

Escaping the Comparison Trap: Becoming Who God Made You to Be

September 30, 2013 No Comments

Have you ever felt like you just weren’t enough? I’ll be honest, there are times when I struggle feeling like I am enough. I wonder am I good enough, am I strong enough, am I smart enough, am I thin enough, am I ______________ enough. You fill in the adjective, I’ve wondered about it. Jon Acuff said recently, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” That’s tough for me.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. How true is that?

I was reading through Romans 12 the other morning when I came across verse 2 and it struck me in a whole new way.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (the Message)

What a great reminder! When I begin to play the comparison game and wonder where I am not measuring up I need to remember these few things…

1. Be Unique

Our world loves to put people into little boxes and categories. If you dress a certain way, that means you are hipster, nerdy, sporty, or chic. If you like to recycle you are a green tree hugger. If you are a hunter you clearly don’t love animals. Come on! There are so many different pressures that we face. The media, our peers, and the world around us want to desperately form us into their mold. You don’t have to fit in that mold.

2. Be Flexible

God wants to transform you into a different person. You don’t have to be like everyone else because God is in the business of making you, you. The old me is exactly that- old. It’s time to bring on the new. This will happen over time and it will happen because He begins to change your thought process. There are times when you need to be willing to not always be right, or change the way that you think about things.

3. Be Teachable

When you step back and see what God has been doing in you, the ways that He has been molding and shaping you, all of the experiences that you have had, and all of the pain that you have gone through, it is a little easier to see what God may want to do through you. The last part of that verse says that you will begin to see what God wants to do through you, in you, and with you. It will require you to be teachable.

I can easily get caught up in the comparison trap. It is not a fun place to be. I’m thankful that God doesn’t want us to stay there and provides a way out of it!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

One Year at a Time: The Power of Simple Truths That Keep You Going

September 23, 2013 4 Comments

A while ago I wrote a post on my favorite axioms. I try to remind myself of these all the time. An axiom is a self-evident truth that requires no proof. Okay, so they are my axioms, which means that they are self evident to me. They are incredibly helpful to me, and may be for you too. They are like lights on the runway for me. They help guide me and give me direction.

I have realized that since the time that I wrote that post, another one has popped up in my life. It is not as profound as some of the others, but still encouraging. Here’s the latest.

Anyone can do anything for a year.

I warned you. It’s not profound. In fact it is incredibly simple. That is one of the reasons why I love it. It’s a timeless reminder to me not to give up or give in. Some days I feel like a distance runner, and other days I feel like a sprinter. On the days I feel like a sprinter and I am about to give up because the race is longer than I expected it would be or harder than I thought it was going to be I need to be reminded that anyone can do anything for a year.

This encourages me to keep going. Keep dreaming, keep following Jesus in the midst of whatever it is that is currently going on. I find myself sharing this with people almost every week. So whatever difficulty you are going through right now, remember, Anyone can do anything for a year. I’m convinced of it. Keep going. Just take the next step. And then tomorrow take the next one. You’ll get there. I promise!

Likely you have your own axioms, I’d love to hear them too. Drop them in the comments below.

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

My Axioms (just slightly less cool than Bill Hybels’)

May 11, 2012 3 Comments

One of the best leadership reads that I have laid eyes upon was a book by Bill Hybels called Axioms. I would highly recommend that you pick it up and read it. It is a great read, it is quick, short chapters. (I like that!) They may be short, but don’t be fooled. Those babies are chock filled with tons of wisdom.

After reading his book of axioms, I decided that I would write a few of my own. I give you, a few of my own axioms. I’ve come up with/collected these over the past several years. They probably aren’t all original thoughts, but they have been adapted and tweaked to fit my life.

People matter more than process
There will be times when I need to give up the right to be right
Love the way that I have been loved (1 Jn 4:19)
I usually find out my wife is right two months after she speaks
View present ministry with a lifetime perspective
It is more about being with God than doing things for God
When conflict arises, relationships must rise more

What pearls of wisdom do you have? Let’s hear some of your axioms.

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

The Moment Has Come

January 23, 2011 1 Comment

A while ago I shared about my sister, her husband and their four kids. They are headed over to Bangladesh for two years to serve in the missions work that is taking place there. I arrived here in Texas late Thursday evening and have been trying to help them get ready for this trip.

Their moment has come, their 2 day journey of 8,654 miles is about to begin. It is made up of three flights, with a total of 22 hours in the air! Only to be followed up by a 14 hour bus ride. Did I mention that they were going with four kids?

Tomorrow morning we will head to Dallas Fort Worth Airport to send them on their way.

Would you join me in praying for them? Pray for safety. Pray for their children, Quinton (7), Emma (5), Jack (4), and Addy (2). Pray that God would give them peace and patience as they endure a very stretching experience in these next 48 hours.

You can follow what’s going on in their lives over at their blog: The Long Family

Here’s a few pictures from while I was here…

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Till 2010

November 25, 2009 No Comments

This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to take eight of our youth leaders down to the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta Georgia. We heard from some great speakers, (Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Donald Miller and others) all of us were challenged in one way or another. We learned what it looks like to lead in uncertainty, we were challenged to love the Lord with all that we are, we were asked to commit to leading Godly youth ministries focused on Jesus, and challenged to share the greatest story that has ever been told with an unswerving diligence and dedication.

Over the course of this extended weekend I honestly believe that God has stretched me. There were times of heartfelt worship, moments of raw emotion, thoughts of missed opportunities, and words of encouragement. I was challenged to adopt a bigger dream and vision than ever before. There are many details that I need to work out yet before I share with you and my church body what this means and looks like. However, I know that this is exciting! It is big! It is going to rock our worlds and hopefully the worlds of many around us.

So in preparation for this dream right here at the start of seeing God fulfill it I have decided to quit blogging for a little over a month. I will resume blogging here at www.thesaltlick.tv on January 1^st, 2010. My desire is to use this time to really focus on listening to God, and following the leading of His spirit.

Others in the blogging world have called what I am doing a “Blogatical”. That’s a pretty good description… There is a lot that I don’t know about what’s to come over the course of this next month. However, here’s what I do know. I know that God is the God of all things! I know that I want to hear from God. I know that I want to rely solely on His Holy Spirit and be led by Him alone. I know that I want to see God do some amazing things here in this online community as well as the community that I live in.

So until 2010, I’m signing off!

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

Carry the conversation

May 26, 2009 4 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhsHsCuR5g&feature=channel_page]

As usual, here is the rundown from last night’s service. Honestly, Sunday night was kinda funky, huh? There were just so many crazy things happening. Sound issues, technical issues, and all kinds of strange things… I know that I was feeling like there was something going on under the radar… With that in mind, can I challenge you to keep praying for the Five? We would really appreciate your prayer…

So, we were picking up in the series Raw Worship, where we take a look at what happens when worship and life collide. We were in Psalm 130 last night and we were taking a look at what does it mean to worship God in and through the waiting? As always we look forward to and encourage questions/comments, here are this weeks…

You mentioned that you are tired of all the “smallness”, referring to what we wait for God to do. What encouragement and assurance do we give to those God calls to do the boring, unpopular, uncool, and truly small tasks?

This specific comment was made by me while we were discussing the concept of hoping in the Lord. What I was referring to was how I feel that we as the Church for the most part do not expect God to do incredible things. I think that instead what we expect from God is for Him to show up and do small things (as I mentioned); pay the mortgage, make sure that the budget is met… etc… See here’s what I mean… Why are we shocked when we hear stories about how God provides miraculously… As if this was like an unbelievable feat for God to provide? I mean honestly, this is the God of the universe that we are talking about! Why is the box that we think/allow God to operate in so stinkin small? When we read verses like 1 Cor. 2:7-9, or Eph. 3:20. do we go, Man God is huge, or do we say, eh, God is pretty powerful I guess. I realize that we can’t comprehend how HUGE God is… so, why then do we make Him so small? Whew, I better stop here and actually answer the question before I turn this into a book…

The seemingly “small” tasks that we have the privilege to be responsible for are not just that: small and insignificant. Those types of tasks may be uncool, unpopular, and even monotonously boring. We would be sorely mistaken if we viewed God’s calling on our lives to be small and insignificant. The gifts and talents that God uniquely gives each one of us are given to us in order that we can bring honor to God, and cause others to see God for who He is… I don’t care if you are filling communion cups, or cutting the church lawn… Your role in this huge organization that God has established; The Church, is not insignificant. You are vitally needed. Paul was a hero for this cause… watch what he does here in Ephesians 4;

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

To the one who feels marginalized, underused, unimportant, small, insignificant, negligible, frivolous, and peripheral: You are incredibly important. Your work may not be cutting edge, it may not be flashy and all that attention getting… In fact you may not be thanked or praised much, if at all. However, we work not for the approval of man. We work diligently, unswervingly, whole-heartedly dedicated to the cause of Christ! We sacrifice our time, efforts, talents, money, and everything else we have in order that we may see the Gospel go forward to just one more person. The part you play is vital in the ministry of the Gospel. Don’t you for one minute think that you are unimportant, expendable, or peripheral. Just because your task may be borin, unpopular, or uncool, I don’t believe for one minute that it is small. As a pastor I praise God for people like you. You are the types of people that allow me to do what I do. (Go do a study on Acts 6:1:7)

To the one who submitted this question: thank you! It is conversations like these that get me charged up to keep doing what I do, and to help equip others to keep doing what they do! It really is all about Jesus. It is about introducing more people to Him. We are all charged with that mission…

To those who have a public ministry, a flashy ministry, a lot of responsibility, get a lot of thanks because of the publicity of your position: Find three people today who are behind the scenes people; i.e. The counters, the janitors, the lawn maintenance guy, the one who changes the sign out front, the one who folds and stuffs the worship guide… THANK THEM FOR WHAT THEY DO! CHANCES ARE YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU DO IF IT WASN’T FOR WHAT THEY DO!

Who do you see in your church that is a great example of an unnoticed servant? Share their story! Click on the comment button below and let it rip… Let’s encourage one another…

Thankful for those behind the scenes people…

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

Compassion

May 2, 2009 2 Comments

One of my favorite Pastors/bloggers/dads/all around cool guy, Pete Wilson, is over in India on a blogging trip with Compassion International. It has been really neat to follow what is going on with them there through Twitter as well as his posts over at his blog. Here’s the deal though… I’ve been thinking about this one all week. I wanted to post it earlier, but I didn’t collect my thoughts early enough…

SO, here is a shameless plug for Compassion International Sponsorship: Get over here and sponsor a child! It will change lives, not only the kid’s life who you sponsor but it will change your life too! Tiffany and I sponsor a child in Africa, and we are really thrilled to think that somewhere in this world we are helping to take care of another family! Check out this video Pete took while in India… Incredible! Go over to his blog and spend some time reading what he is experiencing there… www.withoutwax.tv

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-70q8MsvKE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwithoutwax%2Etv%2F&feature=player_embedded]

James 1:27 “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”

I know right now that if you are reading this, by very nature of the fact that you have a computer, you are blessed! Some of you are are reading this on your mobile phone… we are blessed! Let’s share what God has given us. Consider jumping over here and sponsoring a child.

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

Amazing tidbits of news…

January 30, 2009 3 Comments

Last night was incredible. I’ll tell you why. Last night was Junior High youth group. And do you know that it was the first youth group that I have been at as a youth pastor where I haven’t taught! Last night was the first night for our new intern, Josh Adams to teach. Josh team taught with a good friend of mine, Matt Thompson. They rocked it. Let me tell you what,they were funny. If you weren’t there, they were funny, and they were serious, and they were able to get the point across. Serious props to these guys!

I can’t wait to see where our Junior High ministry goes!

Okay, and here’s the second amazing thing. Last night sometime between 12:00 and this 8:00 am, the salt lick reached over 20,000 hits! Amazing. Here’s the proof.

blog-stats

How cool is that? Thanks to all of you guys who keep coming back and checking it out each day. I’m excited to see what kind of a community God may be building here at the saltlick.

Tonight we are headed out with The Refinery, (Senior High) for our winter retreat. I am pretty pumped about this one! I love the winter retreats.

Oh, and next Sunday night @ 5:00 pm we will launch our new service at FBC called, The Five. The 5 is a worship service that encourages transformation in people’s lives and the culture around us. We are looking to make a difference here in Doylestown. I’m excited, I have the honor of teaching and providing leadership to this service. So, come check it out. 5:00 at First Baptist Church of Doylestown.

What new stuff is going on in your life?

~Peter