Time. We spend it, invest it, or even waste it. Lets redefine it today - your time is your life. How you use your time ends up being what your life is.





 

It is really in specifying our values, writing our vision, stating our mission, and outlining our goalsthat we gain how to invest our time in those things most valuable to us - the significant things that give our life meaning.

 

 

Below is a work in progress - notes I have kept that help me build on my time and I believe will help you too. They are each topics that demand more thought but I want to give you first draft without any polish - okay

 

 




 Values
What matters to you the most.
Your values shape who you are and who you will become.

 

 

They are the DNA of the emerging you...~Henry Cloud

 

You can look at a persons behaviour over time and see what they value. What you end up seeing in a persons life is ultimately what their values are.

 

From identifying our values and writing them down a specific vision, mission, and goals all help provide the building blocks to seeing those values implemented into a focused expenditure of time and resources that accomplish that vision.




*No matter what we might say our values are, our behaviour sometimes reveals to us that there are other things we also value that are getting in the way of the important ones. When this occurs we are in a conflict.



*Fears are often such power drains that cause you to lose control of being able to move forward toward whatever will make you successful, losing what you value, and not focusing on your goals.

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  Vision

   

  Your vision is the picture of what you desire something to look like in the future. It is the key to getting to where you want to go.

   

   

  Without a vision we flounder and become the result of whatever forces prevail upon us, or in other words, we become victims of circumstance. ~ Henry Cloud

   

   

  A vision captures your dreams and lifts your heart and passion to build something of great value.

   

  A vision must be written down to be effective.
  




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  Mission

  Your mission is specific as to why you exist and what you will do to bring your vision into reality. It is action oriented. Your mission can be summarized into a statement. It defines the boundaries in which you will take action and protects from other “good” things entering in which may become the enimies of “best” things you apply yourself to that accomplish your vision.
  

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  Goals

   

  After writing your Vision and defining your Mission the next thing to consider are your specific goals to get you there. Goals tend to be measurable and have a time line attached to them. Goals are the critical link between discovering what matters most to you and acting on what matters most to you.

   

   

  Goals give direction, deadlines, and organize effort in a focused direction. They force you to drill down and git it done. They provide more clear boundaries and structure for how time and energy are spent. ~ Henry Cloud

   

   

  To achieve your goals, you must clarify them in two areas:

   

   

  1. Why? Why would you want to achieve it? What purpose does it serve? 2. How? How would you achieve it? What steps would you have to take to actually see it through?

   

  
  

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  Steps

  A Man's heart plans his way; but the LORD directs his steps ~Solomon
  

   

  Steps are the planning of how you you will set your your goals into motion. There may be five action steps to place on your plan sheet that are necessary to reach your goal.

   

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  Priorities

  One might say that specifying your values, writing your vision, stating your mission, and outlining your goals IS clarifying your priorities, and you would be correct in saying so in the BIGGER Picture. Priorities apply here in the action steps of planning to reach your goals as well. This is the “layup” before playing the ball. This is where one step must precede the other and where the onslaught of distractions might most often appear. By placing “priority” at this level of planning it presupposes distractions and allocates time that is already booked. Without priority here our plans may just look pretty on paper without the substance required to put them into place.
  



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  Flexibility

   

  
  

   

  Priorities also include the need of flexibility which is a necessary part of life. Keeping flexibility in our priorities becomes tool that keeps distractions at bay but allows room for those Vital situations that are sometimes both significant and pressing – a daughter suddenly taken to hospital and the like. Inflexibility is really a choice against those things that are truly significant, important to us, and may be pressing and urgently require our presence. The key is in evaluating the importance of the distraction and using our good judgement toward a required shift in priority.

   

  
  

Examples of Values:

General Values:

Family

Close Friends

Health

Recreation

Relaxation

Emotional growth and intelligence

Intellectual growth

Education

Career Growth

Financial health

Spirituality

Giving

Service

Faith

Character Values:

Honesty

Integrity

Love

Hope

Courage

Faithfulness

Freedom

Loyalty

Justice

Forgiveness

Excellence

Communication

Mercy

Tolerance

Trust

Wisdom

Patience

You probably have more than one Value, but your list of Values need not be tremendously long. And you do not have to be the perfect exemplar of your Values. Part of the reason you want to identify your Values is to identify those areas where you want to improve.

As you identify each Value, you should also clarify it. For example, if you value “Integrity,” what does that mean to you? Does it mean “I never tell lies” or does it mean “I am honest and trustworthy in my personal and business dealings”? Or does it mean something else? By clarifying your values, they become more real to you.