Recently, I wrote about the importance of determining the most significant areas of our life and having a clear vision for each area. Let's talk about this some more.
Determining the most significant areas of our lives help us stay focused as to what we should be spending the most time doing. It can be easy for us to drift through the days without much direction. But what if we we knew very clearly what we wanted out of the most significant areas of life AND we knew how to attain it? Life may be more fulfilling, more rewarding and definitely more purposeful.
Here is how I choose to be purposeful:
1. Determine the significant areas of your life (i.e; God, family, career)
2. Develop a vision of what each area should look like by the end of the year
3. Create goals that would help you accomplish the vision
4. Consider the steps it will take you to reach each goal
My significant areas (in order) are as follows -
- Relationship with God
- Relationship with my wife
- Relationship with my children
- Career
- Personal Accomplishments
So for instance, my 'vision' for 2010 in the area of my relationship with my wife would be: "A stronger, healthier marriage"
Here are my goals to accomplish this:
- Resource our marriage
- Monthly date-night
- Weekly talk time
Here are the steps to accomplish each goal:
1. Bi-monthly counseling with mentors (get counsel during the difficult times AND the easy times), listen to marriage resources together/read books together to challenge our marriage.
2. Plan a date night once a month and make each night purposeful in building romance. This resource from Northpoint can help you: The Great Date Experiment
3. Every week, find two nights to put the kids to bed, turn the TV off and COMMUNICATE. Talk and listen. Listen and talk.
Pretty simple, but if each step is done diligently, your goals will be accomplished and when the goals are accomplished you will be living in your vision. The results will be extraordinary.
So, what are the most significant areas of your life and what do you hope they look like at the end of 2010?
Stretch yourself
Jesse