We have all been there: We intended to accomplish a task or become something new but then days turned into weeks and weeks turned into years. No one wants to fall short on the calling on their life but somehow many people feel dissatisfied in how they are currently living. So how do you reach your goals? What do you need to do to find success? Today, I want to share with you five tips to shop intending and start doing!
Tip #1: Determine Priorities
You have 168 hours in each week. Whether you are running for President, a missionary overseas, or the mother of two there are still a finite number of hours in your week. You must determine your priorities to know if you are accomplishing your goals. A fifty-year-old man, who spends a week on the beach, might be reaching his priority of finding rest and might be reaching on of his goals but if a mother of two toddlers is at the beach she might feel great but that might not line up with her true priorities. What does success look like for you at this point in your life? How do you know you are stewarding those 168 hours well? Take some time right now to write down your top priorities in life and see how your time is lining up with those goals.
Tip #2: Create Laws
How do you continue to move forward with your goals, when you live such a busy lifestyle? I believe the key is creating laws for yourself and sticking to them, even when it’s a hard call. Laws, like railroad tracks, can keep you on task to reaching your goals. For instance, you might create the law of a weekly date night or weekly church attendance. Life will get busy, and you may want to break away from your laws but when you create these laws, they will help you continue down the path to success. Are there any laws you are currently living by? Have you taken the time to write them out so that you can hold yourself accountable? Take time today to lay down the tracks that will guild you for the years to come.
Tip #3: Establish a Rhythm of Work.
In order to stop intending and start doing you need to establish a healthy rhythm of work. If you jump in the deep end, trying to reach all of your goals all at once, you might drown. Instead of sitting down today to write a book from start to finish, how about establishing a rhythm of writing where you try to write a chapter each month for the next year. After you have determined your priorities and laws, you will need to establish the rhythm to how you are going to get the work done. Find that healthy balance between pushing yourself and long-term sustainability. Ask yourself, “What do I need to cut from my life in order to create a more healthy rhythm to my week?”
Tip #4: Find Balance in the Big Picture.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Naturally, in life there are seasons. For most people, December is a very busy season and you might not take many big steps in reaching your goals. Keep in mind the big picture of your life and the seasons that you will be going through. Make sure you are finding balance in the big picture. There are days when you work is demanding and you may need to cut out hobbies, but if work is always getting in the way of hobbies then you might not have a healthy balance. Remember that life is a marathon, and you will need to push yourself to get to that goal. There might be times of walking and times of running but continue moving in the right direction.
Tip #5: Evaluate
Evaluation is key to the important things in life. When was the last time that you seriously evaluated why you are doing what you are doing? When have you sat down to even look at your intentions? Maybe today, the best thing you can do is stop reading blogs on the internet and sit down with a blank piece of paper or a friend at the coffee shop.
Don’t wait until the new year to resolve to reach your goals. Set aside time today to write out your priorities, create laws, establish a rhythm, find balance, and evaluate!
