My Goals...or Yours?

While serving on the staff of a church, I had the awesome opportunity to sit in many different conferences. One of the nice things about this opportunity was the fact that they were often planned in great locations, which was especially nice when they fell during the winter months of Wisconsin. It wasn’t too hard to coax me away in January to go to a conference in Orange County California, or Clearwater Florida, or Dallas Texas.

I listened to some of the greatest leaders in the church world speak on leadership in the church. People like Rick Warren, Ed Young, Jr., T.D. Jakes, Bill Hybels, Erwin McManus, amongst others. This was very uplifting and encouraging and these men were perhaps more down-to-earth than what we would tend to think. But as much as this inspired me…it really doesn’t mean much until I personalize it and incorporate it into my life.

And…many times when I came back from a conference like this, myself and the others that I traveled with would implement parts of what we learned. If it were a leadership conference we would talk about having a mission statement, a clear goal of where we wanted to go, and we would put these practices into place. Sometimes they would make a difference…sometimes they would not.

What I was thinking about today as it relates to these inspirational moments we have in our lives is the practice of setting goals…and then comparing those goals against our daily schedule.

If you are having financial difficulties and you talk to a financial planner one of the first things they will have you do is write down every penny you spend for two-weeks or a month. This tells them where and what you are spending your money on.

The same can hold true for leadership. If a leader is having difficulties attaining his goals we really need to take a look at his schedule. If a leaders goals are clearly marked out then it should be pretty easy for him to make the daily decisions we all face as to what he should be spending his time doing. The majority of his time should be spent on his top goals, because just as the person with a financial challenge needs to take an inventory of where that commodity is going…the leader with a leadership challenge must take an inventory of the commodity that they are dealing with…and that is time.

Today I would challenge you to take a look at your goals. What are the things most important to you? What are the items that you know beyond a doubt that you need to achieve? What are the things that if they somehow passed you by you would know that you made a huge mistake in not pursuing?

These are the items that should be consuming most of your time. Way too often we allow our time to be consumed by the cares of other people. We allow our time to be taken up by the needs of others. And I have seen people waste away their own talents by allowing their time to be consumed putting band-aids on the problems of other people. And now you have two people that are handicapped. One person because they have received a band-aid where they needed an opportunity to grow and learn. And another person handicapped by the illusion that they have done something good but in reality they have allowed themselves to be sidetracked on their journey to achieve the goals that God has laid out for them.

And before you think I am totally uncaring, I do realize that we are called to minister to others, but I do believe that very often the situation being called ministry fits into what I described above more closely than true ministry.

Take a look today. Where is your time being spent? What are you doing with your only non-renewable commodity…time?

Acts 14:3-7 – “So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good news.”

Take a note here today in the scripture. Paul and Barnabas remained in Iconium as long as their ministry was effective. But as soon as they realized that there was an uprising against them they left for other towns where they could continue to preach.

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 --- Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved