Strategic Thinking As A Lifestyle

To live and think strategically, we must be committed to creating a regular habit of setting aside time simply to think and do nothing else. We need to think and freely process all aspects of our lives: family, business, spiritual, and service in general. Until we see the value of regular, reflective time, strategic living will be either a “plastic exercise” or a legalistic ritual. This time to think is committed reflection, with paper and pen at hand, to record what God will bring to mind.

Quietness before God regularly is the hardest thing for most leader/builder-type people. Quietness requires not only the absence of external activity but the quieting of the mind internally. To help achieve this, I write down the obvious “to do’s” that show up in the quietness of my mind in the first twenty minutes or so. Gradually, as I come to true quietness, insight often comes. The ideas and concepts discovered take us to a greater level of creative thinking and multiple-level problem-solving. True strategic thinking is multi-level, often buried behind to-do lists which cut short the reflective process before it begins. Undoubtedly, God gave us the gift of a day of Sabbath rest to promote the use of sufficient time to move from work and checklists to the level of, “Lord, what do YOU want me to see?”

Strategic planning, while it does involve agendas, duties, scope-and-sequence concepts, and critical path exercises, should ultimately serve us by clarifying what is truly important. Goals and personal achievement targets for our personal lives or ministries may be contrary to our growth in Christ. Our objectives must be birthed in God, aligned with our engifted destiny, and energized by faith rather than simple ego needs or materialistic greed. This value clarification is not an exercise in psychological games; it is born through the practice of asking the right questions and regularly having reflective, quiet time before God.

Thought of the Day: Regularly setting aside reflective, quiet time before God is essential to strategic living.