As you look at the areas of your life and work, how are things going? Do you have a clear idea of where you want to head, and are you are making solid progress? Do you sometimes look back and think, “Wow, I haven’t gotten the kind of traction or made the kind of progress I would have liked? Are you confident and encouraged in this season, or is there some discouragement? It seems to me that we want traction in fulfilling our goals, purpose, and responsibilities, and we need encouragement and a sense of self-efficacy as we strive to move forward. In this post, I give you four tools I believe have great potential for helping you get traction and be more optimistic as you do.
Make a Wins List – Some time ago, I was really discouraged, and a good friend said, “You need a ‘win’ pile. You need to start making a “wins list.” The idea included looking back at life to make an overall list of wins and the regular practice of updating that list. It has been such a helpful practice! When we realize and begin accumulating wins, we find encouragement and increased self-efficacy, we stand to become more positive, and we have a better chance of getting traction in our pursuits. The first aspect of this exercise is thinking back over your life to create an overview record of wins and victories. Then, begin the practice of making a win list each week, each quarter, and each year, and keep these for reference moving forward. Let me make two clarifications. First, wins are more-basic accomplishments, while victories are larger, major shift, breakthrough achievements. Record both. Second, distinguish between your accomplishments and gifts brought into your life from God and other people. Record both. I suppose an unhealthy focus on wins could lead to pride, but I believe that, with Godly humility, the practice is a great way to find encouragement and increased confidence, particularly when we are in especially trying seasons.
Plan for Wins Intentionally – It is not my intention, in this post, to tell you how to structure your week, but I want briefly to share my planning structure to set the stage for this next tool. I plan each week in four categories – work, avocation, development, and personal responsibilities. I then budget time for each task under each category and schedule activities. Here is the added piece. We tend to – or I tend to – let the same task types and even the same tasks consume each week, and this is not all bad. Routine can be helpful, and there are many recurring responsibilities. However, the danger is getting into a rut and not really moving forward in our life purpose and goals. When you plan your week, ask yourself, “What do I want to be able to say a week from now that I cannot say today?” This will help you add special tasks to your planning and / or clarify how you want to approach your regularly scheduled activities. It provides an added layer of intentionality that should result in better traction and more wins.
Conduct an End-of-Week Evaluation – Years ago, a ministry friend and colleague began helping me see the importance of regular evaluation and gave me the evaluation structure I mention below. When done well and for the right reasons, evaluation is crucial. Without evaluation, we might drift from our intended mission, fall short of our goals, fail to learn and improve, and be forced to rely on chance for achieving wins. Evaluation helps us be better stewards of all God has given us and do a better job of living out our purpose and reaching our goals. The evaluation consists of three questions in the following order. First, as you look back at the week, “What went well?” This helps you identify wins. Second, “What could have gone better?” Here is where learning can take place for improvement. Third, “What do I want to do different and differently next week?” Different is a change in actions, while differently has to do with modifying existing actions. This is how you sharpen your plan for success, so you gain traction moving ahead.
Conduct a Mid-Week Review – How often do you find yourself heading into the end of a week realizing you didn’t get done d what you said you wanted to? It seems weekly planning and goal-setting alone can be inadequate. Sometimes our goals are unrealistic; sometimes unexpected things come up; sometimes we get off track because of distractions; sometimes our weekly routine hinders us rather than helping. A mid-week review is a great way to check progress on your plans and goals so you can make necessary adjustments to your schedule and efforts, increasing the chance of achieving wins and wrapping up the week strong. In a sense, you are asking relative to each area and goal, “How are things going? Am I on track? What adjustments need to be made to get on track?” This gives you a better chance of being able to say at the end of the week that those things you wanted to be able to say by the end of the week actually happen.
Through the years, one of my favorite concepts has been intentionality. Success does not tend to happen by accident. Once we have a sense of who God wants us to be and what we want to accomplish, intentionality helps us flesh that out. The four tools in this post have helped me in my own efforts at intentional progress, and I believe they can benefit you as well.
** For further tips and tools, continue exploring this blog and check out my Life and Leadership series on YouTube.