It’s time for a checkup. Even though the mid-point of 2016 was actually few days ago, it is still a great time to pause, reflect, take stock and prepare the way for the next steps. If you’re a regular reader, you might remember that I did a few posts as the New Year neared. In those posts, I shared how I approach goals and planning.
It begins with looking back and then moves into looking ahead toward your grandest dreams and goals. Along the way, it’s good to consider where you are and what you need to get there, as well as the small goals that will keep you moving forward.
Here are the three posts I did centering on that planning
- New Year in View Step One: Look Back
- New Year Goals In View Step Two: Look Ahead to Next Year
- Long-Term Goals: The New Year in View – Step Three
Checkup: Get Your Goals in Focus
If I have learned anything this year, it’s the importance of focus and balance. Your focus should be concise enough that you can tell people in a minute or less what you’re aiming to achieve. This should be a big, “north star” sort of ambition. In my case, I’ve boiled it down to “pursuing and helping others pursue a refining life, on purpose, for God’s kingdom and glory.”
What does all that mean? It means that I am going to keep growing and I am going to keep growing toward becoming the completed masterpiece that God has designed me to be. It also means that I am aiming to inspire others to do the same thing.
As far as balance, this is an area where I have gained a new perspective while having read Michael Hyatt’s Living Forward. In it, he explains that “proper balance” does not necessarily mean equal weighting (or time) to all areas. Instead, proper balance means appropriate weighting (or time, energy, focus, etc.) to all areas.
That means saying no to some things. That means cutting back on other things and perhaps even quitting some things. It’s necessary for a couple different reasons. First, it’s necessary to get the right amount of attention where needed. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it’s about making sure you continually grow beyond your comfort zone.
So where are you growing and going? Now is the perfect opportunity to pause, take stock and plan the road ahead.
Checkup: Where Are You going?
So where are you growing and going? Take some time to list out your accomplishments on the year. Don’t’ think long and hard, but think about what you would consider the highlights of the last six months.
Now, with that list in hand and your main focus in mind, how many of those accomplishments are driving you toward that focus? If they are not, they are detracting from your journey. Obviously, there is not a lot you can do about it now. But you can use this as a great lesson. If you could go back in time to change – to not put so much attention on those highlights, would you do that?
If not, is your focus mistakenly identified?
If yes, what brought you to a point where you lost attention to your focus?
Checkup: 2016 -The Year of Listening Up
This year, I have focused in on twelve specific topics I deemed instrumental in the Year of Listening Up. These topics came from the lessons I pulled from my recent book, Listen Up Kids: Foolish Dreams, Syncing with God & Running to Win.
Some of those topics have resonated more than others. For instance, February’s topic of “You Belong on the Field” and April’s topic of “Be in Constant Preparation Mode” saw strong visitation while the topics on dreaming boldly and making yourself available to God got milder receptions.
That’s okay. It helps me know and understand what readers like you are looking for here at 1Glories. It’s insight I intend to use as we grow forward.
On that note, I would like to invite you to take the first ever 1Glories Reader Survey. Don’t’ worry, it’s not a super long survey and I am not going to ask you for any further commitment. I will ask for your email address, but for contest purposes only – it will not be retained after that.
The survey will help me get a better understanding of what you look for, what you like to read and how I should structure content as we go forward. It will be helpful in making 1Glories more useful to you, and me, as we each go about pursuing a refining life, on purpose.