Today I met with a well known highly successful business man. We were talking about potentially partnering together on some ministry initiatives. As we talked it was clear that he was a man of vision, passion and focus. After we talked about the idea of working together he asked a question. So what is our next step?
I think he was testing to see if we had a vision and a plan. He wanted to know how focused we were. I was able to lay out several immediate next steps that we are taking to shape our vision and plan for helping people effectively. It made me think about how important it is to have focus as a leader.
Focus and self-discipline provide the foundation for solid leadership. If a leader gets distracted from the most important things it will cause a loss of energy and productivity. Learning self-discipline is tough. For me I have found that it really helps to develop self-discipline through physical exercise. I have been running for a couple of years and it has helped me to push myself. When I have been disciplined in my exercise and running, I have found myself much more focused on staying fit and healthy.
Here are a few things that may help you to work on focus and self-discipline:
- Protect your mind -Whatever you think about the most is what you will tend to focus on. When you fill your mind with the right things it will help you to be disciplined in the areas that will bring you the most success. When you allow lies and deception to fill your mind it leads you down the wrong paths.
- Guard your heart -A focused self-disciplined person must prevent old patterns from penetrating their hearts. Everyone has weaknesses and temptations that can creep into their hearts, that can not only distract them, but destroy them.
- Guide your lifestyle – As a leader it is important to live a life of integrity and character. Lifestyle decisions can lead to distractions and a lack of discipline. This can keep you from being effective and influential.
In order to be focused and self-disciplined, you will need to say no to some good things. You will need to do some things you don’t want to do and give away some things you like to do.
What areas of your life need more self-discipline? Where are you lacking focus? What is distracting you from the important things?