Busyness and distractions are the enemies of living with intention and purpose. We are heading into the time of year when busyness is probably at an all time high for most people. Perhaps you can identify with this experience. You create goals and you are clear on how you would like your day, week and month to look. But urgent demands from others or an ‘emergency’ quickly throw a big detour sign in front of your day! Sound familiar?

As you approach the Christmas season I would encourage you to do so in an intentional, authentic manner. This is done, first, by knowing how God designed you and how you best operate. You will live with a lot of frustration with yourself and others until you do this. If you want to learn more on how to do this go back and read last month’s blog post.

Second, once you are aware of what an authentic, intentional life looks like for you, you must orient your life so it will align to reflect this. To do this first create a list of priorities for how you want your life to be. These priorities should cover all of the aspects of your personal life, family life, career or business, spiritual life, etc. For instance, most of us would say that a priority for this Christmas season would be to slow down, connect with family and the true meaning of Christmas.

Using this priority as an example we can create 2-3 goals to move us toward this priority. Perhaps one goal is to watch less T.V. and go look at Christmas lights with your family for an hour each week. Another might be to observe Advent readings a few times per week or every Sunday. Whatever you decide, write it down so it is specific and measurable.

Finally, put it on your schedule. If you are going to look at Christmas lights or do Advent readings, write down the exact day of the week and time this will happen. If it isn’t specific it will not happen. If you make these goals with your spouse then you can use them as an accountability partner as well. If not, I would encourage you to share this with another person who will help you to be accountable for following through.

If you follow this plan you might just find yourself truly enjoying a Merry Christmas! Feel free to email me or post a comment in the blog or on Facebook and share what your priorities and goals are for this Christmas season.

I love giving away tools and resources to help. If you would like one of the simplest but most effective time management tools I’ve seen, email me for a complimentary copy and include ‘Time Management Tool’ on the subject line. It is that time of year to think about goal setting for 2014. If you would like a copy of my Goals 2014 Worksheet, email me and include ‘Goals Worksheet’ on the subject line.

By the way, let me be one of the first to wish you a Merry Christmas!