Nail Down Your Priorities

Some people sit down to make goals and don't know where to start. Other people have 453 goals spread out over 23 different areas of life. The first step in making goals for your life is to nail down your current priorities. 

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You can't work on everything in your life at one time. Even if you feel like your life is an absolute mess and you want an overhaul, you still need to start with just a few goals.  

We sometimes use the Priorities and Planning Worksheet in the Planning Your Life God's Way Seminars. It is extremely helpful in analyzing the areas of your life that you need to focus on.  

In the first column of this worksheet, you will list the priorities that you believe God wants you to focus on. What are these priorities? You can approach this in any of the following ways.

​1. Roles that you play in life    

• Your role in your company/business 
• Your role in your family (father/mother/sister)  
• Your role in your church
• Your role in your community

    
2. Responsibilities that you shoulder

• Pastoring
• Supervising
• Parenting
• Work responsibilities
• Homeschooling

    
3. Areas in which you see a need for improvement

• Finances/Stewardship
• Health and Fitness
• Education
• Skills/Talents/Gifts

The second column of this worksheet is also important. This is your underlying "why." When God has given you a responsibility or role, or burdened you with an area of needed improvement, you can be certain that He will help you to grow in that area as you submit yourself to Him. Perhaps a verse has already convicted you. Write that down. If no verse comes to mind, go searching. Ask the Lord to lead you to a verse that you can cling to when the motivation to accomplish your goals fades.

Finally, there are two things to keep in mind when filling out this worksheet. First, you don't need to use all ten slots. Some people will need four. Others may need seven. Only write down as many priorities as you have for your life right now. And that little phrase "right now" is the second thing to keep in mind. This is not a list you will keep for the rest of your life. Think of it as a temporary list. As your life changes--and it will--your priorities will also change. So focus only on the priorities you have for your life for this current period of time.

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The Goal Setting Series: