POSITIONED TO SOAR IV: Focusing Your Activities

POSITIONED TO SOAR IV: Focusing Your Activities

Nehemiah 6:1-19; Luke 9:51-53;

Philippians 3:13-14 and Ephesians 5:14–17

We have seen that having a central focus in life helps one to identify distractions and be able to overcome them in order to accomplish one’s goals. Have you ever woken up wanting to accomplish a lot in that day and only to put realise at bedtime that you did a whole lot of things, but not the main things.  Your number one challenge is  to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing. At a practical level, one has to be able to set right priorities that align or focus daily activities to the central focus.   Setting priorities and implementing them is a tool to maintain focus. How you maintain focus is also how you switch back to focus when you lose it.

Nehemiah set his priorities and kept working on them despite distractions (Nehemiah 6:1-19). Jesus showed immense concentration on his mission to seek and save the lost that his whole life was set on achieving it. Even his face, body and attitude reflected his focus on the mission (Luke 9:51-53). Priorities are a basis for directing effort, time and material resources (Ephesians 5:14–17). In this message, setting right priorities that reflect the importance of activities to life’s central focus is focusing one’s activities.

We live in an age of multitasking and multiple income streams. Many are wearing many hats and juggling more and more balls than before. Paul was everything to every one but did not lose his focus.  He wrote that his life goal was to press towards knowing Christ and serving him (Philippians 3:13-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:31). He wanted to know who He was and what He wanted him to do. He pursued Christ inspired values and goals.  In other words, he set his priorities to fit into the one thing he sought. He made sure his various roles, responsibilities and functions where contributing to a single grand purpose. He made sure everything lined up towards the purpose.  Alignment of car wheels is crucial for the four or more wheels pull in the same direction as determined by the driver. Misalignment of wheels results in poor performance and quicker wear and tear. 

You also need to maintain your various life areas and roles at home, church, and work in alignment.  Some believers suffer from spiritual schizophrenia and are different people for example at home and at church. The story told is that a woman and her children who brought a suitcase and some household items such as a bed and stove to church.  When asked to explain she explained that the husband and father they saw at church was more loving, gentle and warmly smiling at everybody. The one at home was terrifying. Therefore, they had decided to pack and come live at the church. The man’s life was misaligned to say and show Christ anywhere.

Before focusing, therefore, determine what is important, and best.  You aim to focus on the best and prioritise in favour of the best. The quality of focus is that of what is in focus.  The time management tool below is useful in allocation of time and any other resources. The following helps achieve alignment and priority of the important things in life. 

Explanation of the tool:

Q. 2 deserves special attention. It is the quadrant whose activities should receive top priority and should receive resources first. Q.2 activities include:

-           Life planning – include finances

-           Developing of relationship with God in word and prayer

-           Building relationship with family

-           Developing a ministry in line with your calling and gifts

-           Doing things that prevent problems in future

o          Physical  Exercise, enough rest, recreation,

o          Discipline in maintaining things

o          etc

-           Building healthy relationship and accountability mechanism

-           Generating and recognizing ideas and new opportunities

-           Investing in learning, empowerment and training

-           Committing  time and resources to preparation

-           Evaluating and celebrating progress

Q.2 activities are about self-leadership. Society and your employer may not monitor and penalise you for neglect as long as it does not directly affect work and public performance. Indirectly however the social and personal costs are very high. Neglect of Q. 2 activities results in crises/emergencies/pressing problems that require Q. 1 activities. For example, a gas pipe that was not maintained could burst. A person who neglects physical exercise could collapse. A person who does not prepare for their work assignments is fired from employment. Moreover, as such it goes on. Often people with Q. 1 experiences often describe themselves as being under some evil attack. It would therefore mean that neglect of Q. 2 attracts enemy attacks while meaningful attention to Q.2 keeps the devil away.

Q.3 and 4 have activities that are not top priority and often are distractive. The activities include responses to interruptions, some calls, some emails, some invitations to meetings, some reading and activities to win approval at the expense of Q. 2. The phone rings. You go get something at the store. You want to check our email. You are caught in the web of the internet following a story, looking up something, blogging, reading other people’s blogs, checking the weather, looking to see if your sports team won, or just catching up on the news. These activities and others deserve lower priority, refusal, delegation or to be ignored.

How to use the tool:

1) Establish values. Put God and his word at the centre and foundation of all activity. To maintain a Christ focus you need a Christ purpose (e.g. Mathew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31). We desire to glorify and please God by moving people towards Christ and by dedicating ourselves to releasing people to serve God according to their passions, gifts, and style.  You are a Christian who happens to be a businessperson, a lawyer,  a doctor or any other job or profession.

I find meditating on the word of God and the work of the cross very helpful to keeping focus on Christ. Christ is the word (John 1:1). Internalising the word through meditation reprograms the mind and facilitates living a life that resembles Christ (Isaiah 26:3).     I find the Word has higher density to displace other thoughts and attitudes wanting to dominate my life.  Think it long enough, pray it long enough and practice it long enough until new response patterns are established .

2) Set goals – Set goals for Quadrant 2. Be clear about what you want to accomplish or focus on and ensure that it is important and best. In Q. 2 the most important and best is the grand goal about your relationship with God and what he wants you to do. All other goals need to align with the grand goal. Without a goal, activities are as rabbit trails that keep it busy running but going nowhere.

3) Decide on the course of action to reach the goals. Determine how you will achieve your goals by listing the activities you will need to do and their sequence and timing. Where there is no clear plan there is lack of restrain or focus (Proverbs 29:18).  A plan provides direction.

4) Motivation:  Without motivation, plans remain unexecuted. Your plan will happen when the goal arrests your will and set it alight so that you are so passionate about achieving it that you will not give up, you will stay awake if need be, and you will overcome every distraction.. You can nurture passion by spending time in prayer, reading, and meditating on the word of God so that you receive goals and strength for them inspired by the Holy Spirit. In addition, you can reflect on the benefit of successfully achieving the goal and noting the consequences of failure. As well as by establishing the resultant value enough to be attracted to the goal. Have a convincing answer to the question, why am I doing this. Another way is to make yourself accountable to someone regarding your values and goals. Accountability brings discipline and the support that you need. Know the benefit, how it will help you.

5) Decision making.  Make the decision or commitment to take action steps to activate or roll out your plan. Acquire relevant training. Align what you read, watch, people you get close to, places you go, etc towards your goal. Prepare yourself in competency and attitude. Know when to take necessary steps and be courageous to implement them.

6) Self Discipline. Wants you get started things do not always work according to your plan and challenges and distractions come. You need to keep doing the right things and keep your focus and prioritising accordingly. Be prepared to work hard and smart. Do not get weary of doing what is good for in due season you will reap a reward. Be a relative thinker as opposed to a terminal thinker, by constantly linking what you are doing with the end in your mind.

7) Resources allocation. In a dogfight, the dog you feed is the one that will win. Ensure that you prioritise Q. 2 activities in the allocation of time, finances, faith, effort and any other resources.

8) Celebrate progress. You will not manage unless you measure. Measure how well you are doing. What progress you are making. Identify what needs to be kept and what needs to be stopped.  Celebrate the progress you are making even when it is incremental and at significant milestones.

Exercise:

List your activities for the last three months or more and evaluate if they show focus or not. Apply the prioritisation tool discussed I this message to bring alignment and focus to your activities.

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

South Africa