Knowing What to Do and Doing It are Two Different Things:Bringing your goals from “the Heavens” to “the Earth”
Please read the following excerpt from Lee Cockerell’s book, Time Management Magic:
How do you feel at the end of a day when you had ten things to get done and you didn’t do any of them, or most of them? Not very good, right? And how do you feel if you continue to not get important things done day after day and week after week? This is not a trick question. The answer is simple. You feel depressed, distressed and just plain awful. And as we know from medical experiments, those feelings are very bad for your health.
Now ask yourself this: How do you feel on a day when you have a lot to do and you do it all? When you get done all the things that need to be done? Again, this is not a trick question. You feel great, don’t you? You feel happy. You feel confident. And perhaps most importantly of all, you feel ready and able to take on more.
Those last four, underlined sentences- look at them again. That is my prayer for each one of you- to feel great, happy, confident and ready. You are saying to yourself, “Yes, but he doesn’t know my typical day and my typical to-do list!” Just read on, my friend.
Cockerell goes on to say this: Knowing what to do and doing it are two different things. That may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t live as though it’s obvious. They know what they should be doing, but they don’t have a system, a set of habits or a solid routine for getting those things done…
Do you have a system set in place to make the most of your time? What system are you using to accomplish your professional and personal goals? Here are some suggestions:
- Ever-Present. Have your goals always before you (3-5 goals)
- Plan. Every day, etch out some time to plan your next day.
- Be purposeful. In your planning for the day, look at your goals carefully, and write micro-goals that get you a step closer to your big goals. For example, if your goal is to have twenty new donors by the end of the year, your day should have at least one call to a potential donor or a coffee meeting with them or a packet of information sent in the mail to them.
- Process. Every day, look at how you did. Celebrate or re-evaluate.
- Re-Play. Hit the re-play button every day and do it again.
It’s not very glamorous or cutting edge but it really works. You have 24 hours in a day. Be consistent and intentional. Those days will turn into weeks, the weeks into months and the months into years. If you have lived your days consistent and intentional, you will be amazed at all you will accomplish for God’s Kingdom- it will happen one day at a time.
Article by: Brice Maddock – COO, Teen Challenge Southeast
