I've recently written about how the Bible has been a source of wisdom and transformation in my life. This realisation has come in handy as I found myself at the crossroads trying to organise my goals again. Like most of you reading, I started the year with a bunch of amazing goals. I can't forget the excitement of colour-coding my Notion tables with time blocks and roadmaps for the projects attached to my 2024 goals. As the year has progressed, I have been challenged with wellbeing priorities and a career shift agenda that I have decided to pay attention to. This has meant ruthlessly prioritising my goals, and being honest with what I can achieve this year and what I can't. This has also meant confronting my ego, and the need to meet the expectations of others, as well as the disappointment from my team in the decision to take a back seat on some of the more exciting projects. If this situation I've described feels like something you've had to deal with, then I might have the blueprint to ruthless prioritization from the place of 'Christian confidence'.
Prioritizing goals is not just a skill—it's an essential part of leading a fulfilling and purposeful life. As part of my Bible study last week, I went in-depth into some verses that can help me create this blueprint. In the Bible, we see emphases on the importance of focusing on what truly matters. Here’s my simple guide on how to ruthlessly prioritize your goals in life, supported by insights from the Bible.
Identify What Truly Matters
Start by clearly defining what is most important to you. Is it your family, your faith, or your career? Understanding your core values is crucial. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This suggests that your priorities should align with what you truly value in your heart. In practise, I made a list of my core values, and the content pillars of my brand that they translate to. Any project I was working on that didn't align with the content pillars was automatically struck out.
Set Clear, Achievable Goals
Once you know what matters most, set goals that are specific and achievable. These goals should reflect your top priorities and values. Philippians 3:14 encourages us, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Like Paul, focus your efforts on goals that align with your purpose. In practice, my Q2 goals review now only contains goals that are in line with my purpose, with a specific and clear outcome in sight. Each of my goals are either aligned to my wellbeing goals which require no external help or my life purpose goals which are expressed through work and my businesses. Most importantly, I am very clear on what the outcome is. It could be to launch a 10-page e-guidebook this year on a very specific topic, or to exercise for 15 mins daily.
Learn to Say No
To prioritize effectively, you must learn to decline opportunities and activities that do not align with your main goals. This might be one of the hardest skills to master, but it's crucial. Titus 2:12 teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Apply this principle by refusing things that distract from your priorities.
Earlier this year, I planned my travel calendar with all my work, and personal travel and speaking engagements included. In the past few months, I have received invitations to speak in Porto and Amsterdam, and I have turned them down. Saying No to these opportunities was not easy but I have mastered the skill of learning to say no to opportunities. Opportunities don't stop if you're on the right path, and not all opportunities are right for you at every phase, some are distractions.
Allocate Resources Wisely
Your time, energy, and resources are limited. Allocate them according to your priorities. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the servants are given resources according to their ability and are expected to use them wisely. Similarly, you should invest your resources in pursuits that promise the greatest return in terms of your values and goals.
Many times, we assume resources have to be tangible and physical. Our energy and time are our most valuable resources. Learn to perform a resource audit of your life, to see where you spend the most time and energy - that's truly what you have prioritised whether you like it or not. We can't under-prioritise important aspects of our lives, and expect a miraculous outcome when we haven't invested the right time and energy in them - I learned this first-hand with my first Master's degree. I prioritise my wellbeing, and my audit shows this through the amount of time I spend on slow mornings, slow evenings, slow weekends, a healthy sleep schedule, therapy, time with friends, self-care time and rest. Prioritising my research/writing career also shows in how much resources I invest in boosting my productivity by having two assistants (research and executive respectively) on payroll, investing in daily focus & memory-boosting practice, productivity tools like journals and planners, time blocks and organisational skills.
Regularly Review and Adjust Your Goals
Life changes and so may your priorities. Regularly review your goals to ensure they still align with what’s important. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Be flexible and willing to adjust your plans as your life evolves. This has been the hardest part of the equation for me all year. I started the year thinking I could launch three micro businesses in one year, but after a health diagnosis, and the need to go back into the classroom for my research career, I have had to drop the ambition and focus my attention on only one of the businesses. There's no goal you set that's beyond adjustment and flexibility - it's our mindset that needs to change most of the time. We're not any less ambitious for letting projects take a back-burner, we simply are prioritising based on our bandwidth and capacity.
Embrace Discipline and Persistence
Prioritizing ruthlessly requires discipline and persistence. Proverbs 12:24 notes, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” Consistency and hard work towards your prioritized goals will lead to success. Prioritisation is not the same as procrastination and perfectionism. We don't have to push everything away because we either don't believe in ourselves enough or do not think we're deserving of success. Prioritisation still requires discipline and resilience. As I've prioritised my research career, it's important for me to still commit to my writing streak, learning and study goals. I have to push myself to do the hard things even if my brain wants to go for minimal effort. Did you know that your cognitive abilities like focus and memory sharpen with mastery? A mistake that generalists make is that they get to a plateau phase of mastery, and believe they have lost interest or learned all there is to learn about a subject. Discipline and persistence push you beyond the boundaries of the plateau phase, and give you the tools to improve your productivity and overall quality of life.
Trust in Divine Guidance
Lastly, while it’s important to be proactive and disciplined, it’s also crucial to trust in divine guidance. Proverbs 16:3 advises, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” While you organize and prioritize, let your faith guide you and provide the wisdom to make the right choices. Last month, I signed up for a conversion course at school, and a few days later, I received an email that the course was cancelled. I re-applied for a similar course and paid for it a week later. I felt in my spirit that it was a sign to wait on that step, but I was so convinced that was my 'one step' - however, I mistook the revelation of the 'one step' for immediate action. I had clearly been shown that the next step for me in my career was to go back to the classroom, but I hadn't waited on the 'when'. The result of this was realising that the course I needed based on the 'big picture' revelation that eventually came would now be in another school, and I didn't need to spend money on the previous course. This, for me, was a hard lesson on divine guidance when it comes to prioritisation of goals and allocating resources. It's not always been a negative experience for me, I've had some great experiences in trusting divine guidance - like being accepted for a grant to a program that changed my life and helped me see what I wanted to do with my research career more clearly.
By following this blueprint, you can ruthlessly prioritize your goals, ensuring that you focus on what truly matters. I appreciate Biblical teachings that advocate for a purposeful and value-driven existence, and hope to bring more of them to our readers.
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