What Now....?

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS!

I love Monday mornings because my work rhythm as a pastor means that I work like a dog on Sundays while everyone drinks coffee and relaxes, but Monday morning is the time when everyone else is off to the start of the week but I get to breathe in and suss out the week and month ahead of me.

THINK
One of my reflections - and forgive me if you think I'm telling you to suck eggs - but I've found that learning to think a couple of months ahead of things has become a crucial discipline in my life. Monday mornings are designated to that crucial thinking time. Time to think through specific goals - work, family, life, etc - and nail some short term goals in place. This has become one of the most powerful changes I've made in my own life, especially as thinking about things doesn't come that naturally to me. I'd rather be doing something. Sadly, just doing 'stuff' doesn't mean you're doing the right stuff.

SHORT TERM CULTURE
I realise that many organisations, cultures, business tend to run on getting the immediate thing in front of them done. This creates a long term, unsustainable cycle where the whole relational ecosystem becomes about reacting to stuff that has the potential to cripple an organisation because it creates anxiety and stress in the system. The cost comes in the relational resources of a company. In the energy of it's people to carry on, on the creativity in the system and in the resilience of a system to process change.

THE FOCUS BECOMES...
Think of a sports team who require core and automatic skills to win. I remember playing field hockey in a team where our automatic skills weren't good (controlling the ball, tackling, passing etc). We were not disciplined in getting these core skills into our collective subconscious so that when the match arrived we were unable to deliver our team strategy because the levels of trust within our team were so low because our preparation wasn't good. Stress increased, panic increased, ultimately and performance decreased. I would say that all this came down to being stuck in a reactive cycle because then in training we focused too heavily on skills that should have been automatic, rather than on how to develop a team and a culture that could deliver winning.

PRACTICALS...
So let me leave you with some thoughts for the week. I hope they help and help you lead others and yourself better in this next week!

**1. Set aside 2 hours this week just to think about the next 3 months.

**2. Identify your three main goals for the next three months and write them down.

**3. Orientate your planning around those goals and make daily decisions accordingly so as not to waste your time!

Hope that helps, any questions let me know and any thoughts and breakthroughs - do share!

Jx