You want to achieve your mission. So, you get out of the office and take time to identify 5 key goals. Good. When you return to the office, you focus on achieving your goals all week. Good.
 
And then things head downhill:

• In week #2, you notice that you’re not quite as focused on your goals.
• In week #3, you have a crazy week where you can’t work on your goals.
• By week #4, you can’t remember 2 of your goals. Not good.

 
Question: What’s the problem?
 
Answer: You didn’t document your goals.
 
This means…

• You can’t easily review your goals.
• You can’t easily use your goals to schedule your next action steps.
• You can’t easily find out what your goals are when you can’t remember them (something which happens to everyone).

Tip: Document your goals. Today.

We all want to be organized. We all want to be better organized. The problem is that we might not be clear on what it means to be organized. For example, does being organized mean…?

1. Having SMART goals, having goals, or having values?
2. Using spreadsheets to track progress or being able to tell stories about progress?
3. Having a clean desk with everything filed away or having a messy desk with everything in stacks?
4. Planning ahead or seeing what happens?

 My answer?

1. Being organized doesn’t mean having SMART goals, having goals, or having values—being organized means being aware of your priorities.
2. Being organized doesn’t mean using spreadsheets to track progress or being able to tell stories about progress—it means being aware of progress on your priorities.
3. Being organized doesn’t mean having a clean desk with everything filed away or having a messy desk with everything in stacks—it means being able to access the resources you need to address your priorities.
4. Being organized doesn’t mean planning ahead or seeing what happens—it means being intentional about pursuing your priorities.

 So, what can you do? Reflect on the following 6 questions: On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high)…

1. How aware are you of your priorities?
2. How aware are you of your progress on your priorities?
3. How able are you to access the resources you need to address your priorities?
4. How intentional are you about pursuing your priorities?
5. So, how organized are you?
6. How organized do you want to be?

 Remember, being organized helps you pursue God’s calling. Get better organized. Today.

Do you want to reduce your frustrations so you can get on with what God's calling you to do? If so, reflecting on these 5 questions can help.  

If you want to get more done in less time at work, think about how you can manage yourself more effectively at work.

Before getting organized, make sure you're clear on what being organized means and how being organized can help you more effectively carry out your mission. 

You’re working on a vital project. You need help. Which 3 of the following would you most likely do?

• Reflect on what you know.
• Talk with colleagues.
• Read books and magazines.
• Get coaching.
• Check the Internet.
• Get help from a consultant.
• Look at relevant files on your computer.

Have you identified the 3 things you’d most likely do? Good.
 
Question: What key option is missing in the above list?
 
Need some hints? It doesn’t cost money. It’s available 24/7. You can use it anywhere. It gets results.
 
Answer: Asking God for help. God knows everything and wants to help you. So, ask Him for help. Today.

How faithfully and effectively do you use your God-given strengths?

Each day you pursue God’s calling—at home, at work, at church. Each day you focus on being faithful. That’s good. In pursuing God’s calling, being faithful is vital. Because being faithful is vital, I want you to consider a question: How faithful are you in using your God-given strengths? Or to put it another way, How faithful are you in using God’s blessings?
 
God has given you a calling. And He has prepared you for that calling by giving you specific strengths: He has worked in your life to teach you key truths and given you a unique network of relationships, a variety of abilities, distinguishing character traits, and a range of experiences and education.
 
So, how faithful are you in using your God-given strengths? How faithful are you in using God’s blessings? (How faithful are you in using your talents? Remember the Parable of the Talents? Remember how the master responded to the servant who buried his talent? Not using your talents in the name of being faithful is a little like burying them.)
 
Answering these questions is vital. Answering these questions can help you pursue God’s calling. Answering these questions can help you make sure that you are playing your proper role in the Body of Christ and help you avoid being an “eye” that strives to faithfully be a “foot.”
 
So, what can you do? Identify the strengths (blessings) God has given you. Ask yourself, How faithful am I in using my God-given strengths? Help someone else reflect (you can use the questions in the sidebar). If you are a supervisor, ask yourself: How faithful am I in using the strengths God has given to those I supervise? How can I more effectively leverage the blessings God has given those I supervise?
 
Remember, faithfully pursuing God’s calling involves using the strengths God’s given you.

Think of an activity you’re doing. Got one in mind? Good.
 
Question: Why are you doing that activity?
 
Tip: You need to be able to answer that question for each activity you’re involved in.
 
What should your answer include?

• An activity.
• The goal your activity addresses.
• How working on your goal helps you accomplish your mission.
•  

What does an answer look like?

• I’m updating my curriculum maps for Social Studies 8. I'm doing this because I want my students to experience a coherent curriculum. When my students experience a coherent curriculum, they learn more. And when they learn more, they get equipped to impact the world for Christ.
• I’m fixing a sticky door hinge so that students can get to their classes on time. When students get to their classes on time, they can learn more. And when they learn more, they get equipped to impact the world for Christ.

Bottom line: Clarify how your mission, goals, and daily activities are connected. Today.

Good news—God has a plan. He’s already at work. And He’s prepared ways for you to join Him in His work (Eph. 2.10). So, you have the opportunity to be part of God’s plan and work. You don’t have to go figure it all out by yourself or do it all by yourself.
 
Point: Join God in what He’s already doing.
 
3 questions:

1. How clear are you on what God is already doing?
2. How clear are you on how God wants you to join Him in His work?
3. How willing are you to join God in what He’s already doing?

Tip: If you need increased clarity on what God is already doing:

• Pray daily for a minimum of 2 weeks.
• Read God’s Word daily.
• Seek wisdom from 5 of God’s people.

Remember: Join God in what He is already doing. Today.

You want improve in planning. You know this is going to feel like climbing a steep set of steps, so you decide to take it 1 step at a time.
 
Question: How can you climb the next step?
 
To find out:

• Read about the 5 developmental steps (below).
• Then, use the reflection questions to identify what you will do to climb the next step.

 
Here are the 5 steps. Read More...

If you want to get your goals done, pay attention to them.

Reflecting on 4 questions can help you figure out how much time you should invest in each of your goals.

You want to carry out your God-given mission: To empower Christian leaders and organizations to close the rhetoric/reality gap.
 
You have reflected on your mission, prayed and thought about what God would have you do in the next 5 years, and established a 2-part vision:

1. 200 Christian staff from 40 Christian organizations with increased capacity/results
2. 15 Christian organizations with total of 25 new annual capacity-building goals

You have also developed goals that address your vision: To increase capacity/results for…

• 30 Christian staff through coaching
• 75 Christian staff through consulting
• 40 Christian staff through networking
• 40 Christian staff through resourcing
• 150 Christian staff through training

Question: How much time do you want to invest in each of your goals? Read More...

By focusing, working smart, and pursuing excellence. To get an idea of how you can manage yourself more effectively, take the following assessment (download). Write the number in the blank that comes closest to representing how true a given statement is for you right now. Use the following scale:

4: Consistently • 3: Usually • 2: Sort of • 1: Rarely

Focus
___ I focus on joining God in what he is already doing.
___ I focus on doing right things, before I focus on doing things right.
___ I focus on my God-given mission.
___ I have defined my mission in terms of SMART goals.
___ I understand how my mission, goals, and daily activities are connected. Read More...

Make sure you schedule time for your key priorities before you schedule time for other things.

What frustrates you? What has frustrated me includes not having proper travel gear, not having necessary software, and unclear job expectations.
 
Notice, I listed what has frustrated me, not what frustrates me. Read More...

Imagine you’re a basketball coach. You have a player who scores 27 points per game, shoots 46% from the 3-point line, and gets 14 rebounds per game. You’re pleased with his performance.
 
But you’re puzzled. Read More...

Want to increase your effectiveness? Do right things, then do things right.

You're at school, and you want to help others grow. Instead of giving advice or suggestions, ask questions that fit the DRAW protocol:

• Define: Get the facts defined.
• Respond: Get the facts responded to in terms of feelings/experiences.
• Analyze: Get the facts, feelings, and experiences analyzed.
• What’s next?: Get next steps considered.

 
Here's a set of DRAW questions you can use for a faculty meeting conversation about science-related issues. Read More...

You’re at the end of a hectic week, the kind where you can hardly remember what happened. You’re sitting at your desk, doing some reflection. You’re noticing that you’ve accomplished some goals (building your network list and preparing a message) and that you haven’t accomplished some other goals (developing a debriefing tool and a conflict resolution workshop). You wonder why some goals get done, while others don’t. Read More...

You’ve documented your goal: To develop a community of practice for Christian school curriculum coordinators.
 
You did a careful study of the current situation, considered options for moving forward, and documented your goal. That’s good. Now you’re ready to start. Read More...

The point is not to have goals. The point is to achieve goals. To achieve your goals, take 4 steps: pray, put, take, and reflect.

You’re pursuing God’s calling. Good. Three weeks ago, you developed a list 5 goals that are part of pursuing God’s calling:

1. Pray more.
2. Make spouse happy.
3. Answer email immediately.
4. Coach students.
5. Provide training for Christian schools.

Now, you’re seated at your desk, reflecting on your goals. Read More...

Email is a useful, but limited, form of communication. Being a good steward of the resources God has given you includes making email work for you—and not the other way round.
 
Question: How can you make email work for you? Read More...