To be effective in how we live, it makes sense that we should give more attention to those areas that are most important. Rather than living randomly, being distracted, or just reacting to our circumstances, we need to focus on the right things.
The problem is, many times we don’t slow down, pause to think, or make the effort to choose what’s important.
Something is important when it has worth, value, or meaning. It may be of huge significance in the long term, but simple things can also be important, such as an act of kindness, being with loved ones, or taking some quiet time for prayer.
Consciously or not, we are constantly making decisions on what to do or not do. Ideally, we are good stewards of the time we have been given and recognize that we are meant to do important things. But, too often, we choose not to.
Many times, we choose what’s most comfortable or safe. Sometimes it’s out of insecurity or fear. Or because we lack a vision for our lives, and we don’t dream big enough. More often, we simply get distracted by the mundane and find ourselves getting stuck—day after day, year after year—in the busy-ness of life. We focus on the wrong things, and we choose:
- To use our time impulsively versus effectively.
- Urgent things rather than the important ones.
- To do nothing when we should do something.
- The easy thing, even if it’s not the right thing.
- Something good rather than something great.
What can we do instead?
1. Choose to use our time well versus wasting it
We are each given the same amount of time: 24 hours a day and 365 days each year. We can use it to make progress on important projects that improve our lives and serve good purposes. Or we can—choice by choice, day by day—waste one of our most valuable resources: time. The key is to decide that we will be intentional and dedicated about using our time well.
Life is a journey we take one step at a time. Many times each day, whether we are conscious of it or not, we make a choice about what to do next. By being intentional about how you use your time, you can learn to live life well, one choice at a time.
What to do: Be intentional in choosing what to do next.
How to do it: Read “What to Do Next”
Key question: What is the most intentional, important, thoughtful, and balanced choice for what I do next?
Story: For many things I write, including this article, the person who needs that advice most is me! I procrastinate at times and find handy reasons (excuses) to do something I feel like doing rather than what I ought to be doing. Using my time wisely is an ongoing journey, so I’ll keep this article handy so I can refer back to it often. Hopefully, it is helpful for you as well.
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” (William Penn)
2. Choose what’s important rather than urgent
To determine what is truly important, Stephen Covey urges us to “begin with the end in mind” and “put first things first.” Developing a life plan will help us do just that, by building a vision for the future, prioritizing our objectives, and capturing weekly commitments on our calendar to help us move in the right direction one task at a time.
With that insight, we can then feel more confident ignoring things that are urgent but not important. This is critical to understand, because what we don’t do is sometimes as important as what we do.
What to do: Build a life plan and use it to schedule our time.
How to do it: Read “How to Create a 1-Hour Life Plan”
Key question: When I am on my deathbed, will I be satisfied with the choices I made?
Story: I sometimes feel a need to control our financial future too tightly. Having a life plan helped us make decisions that would have been tougher otherwise such as: my wife left work to stay at home with the kids; we put our boys in a private Christian school; I limited my career by not moving; we give to our church; and I left the business world to found a ministry. Looking back, those are all things I’m very glad we did, but it took “having the end in mind” to make those choices.
“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.” (Stephen R. Covey)
3. Choose to do something meaningful each day
Doing nothing is a decision many of us make often, even when there is something we should be doing instead. We tend to live too randomly or impulsively, ruled by indecision or procrastination or as a victim of our emotions and desires.
Instead, we can live on purpose. We don’t have to change the world, but we can do something each day that is meaningful. The five STEPS of Surrender, Transformation, Empathy, Progress, and Service (from the book STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life) can serve as reminders of important things we ought to be doing each day.
What to do: Use the STEPS to guide our choices every day.
How to do it: Read “How Will You Live (Today)?”
Key question: What steps should I take today along my life journey?
Story: The STEPS remind me to do simple, but important, things each day such as my morning quiet time, practicing self-awareness, investing in relationships, and pausing to help someone when given the opportunity. Personally I need the STEPS, because I often do not feel like doing those things.
“Choosing to do nothing is still making a choice.” (Mark Batterson)
4. Choose the right thing and not the easy thing
It’s incredibly tempting to avoid those tough decisions we know we should address. Sometimes, however, it is critical that we muster the courage to change the things we can, and the things we should. Often, because something very important is at stake. Always, because it’s the right thing to do.
Other times, we need to accept with serenity the things we cannot change. If we are very control-oriented, that may be the hardest choice of all. The Serenity Prayer provides a useful tool for such decisions, and it can help us do the next right thing, one choice at a time. Even when that choice is to do nothing.
What to do: Use the Serenity Prayer to make choices.
How to do it: Read “Serenity to Accept, Courage to Change”
Key question: What is the next right thing I should choose?
Story: Some of my toughest decisions in years past involved when to show tough love with my son and set firm boundaries and when to step back and let things work out as they will. Often, the right thing was not the easy thing, and it helped to have a spiritually-sound approach like the Serenity Prayer to frame the decision.
“Every time you choose to do the easy thing, instead of the right thing, you are shaping your identity.” (Hal Elrod)
5. Choose something great instead of just good
It’s deceptively easy to go a lifetime doing things that are good, but not great. Instead, life can become a grand adventure, one in which we accept the role we are meant to play in God’s larger story by doing some great things.
For example, we find our calling in life by focusing on how we are designed and where our passions lie. Then, we obey and apply our God-given talents to a cause that’s bigger than us, but meant for us. Rather than settling for doing things that are expected, respectable, and safe, we can boldly follow a more important path.
What to do: Seek to pursue our calling in life.
How to do it: Read “How to Find Your Life Calling”
Key question: What do I like to do, what am I good at, and what gives me satisfaction?
Story: God designed my life calling using my circumstances, including struggles with alcohol, and my interests, such as writing and teaching. And he wants me involved in those things as a ministry to others. Pursuing God’s calling is a great privilege, so I am honored to have the opportunity to do those things now as a vocation.
“Good is the enemy of great. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” (Jim Collins)
Too often, we choose what is good, urgent, or easy rather than what is great, important, or right. Other times, we simply decide to do nothing, or we waste our time rather than using it well. It doesn’t have to be that way.
You will make many decisions today on what to do and not do. The question is: “What will you choose?”
Next Right Step: Pick 1 of the 5 choices discussed above and practice it for the next month.
