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Focus On
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ROCKS for Daily Living
Start each day with positive affirmations. Start living in the moment. Just start wherever you are. Be present. Putting our daily rocks in first is wise and proves useful for managing our time more effectively. Raising teenagers requires constant attention and FOCUS to ever changing demands and situations. Very easily, I can be sidetracked, becoming unfocused and scatterbrained. Wisdom to choose which battles to fight and the energy to change the things I can is a daily struggle. Through many trials and errors, hundreds of personal growth books, listening to thousands of sermons and just learning from experience, living in freedom and joy is a deliberate choice. Everyday the ROCKS must go in first, then the PEBBLES, and then the SAND will just pour in. We need daily rocks to give our life meaning, keep us grounded and clearly focused in the right direction. ROCKS represent your most important projects and are necessary for survival, like maintaining proper health and spending time with your family. The main ROCKS we need to focus on are GOD ROCKS, FAMILY ROCKS, BUSINESS ROCKS, ME ROCKS. PEBBLES, represent the "important tasks"in our schedule but are not necessary to survive. Pebbles should not make up more that 60% of your time each week. The SAND is all the "extras" that often steal our precious time. Some examples of SAND are social media, entertainment, sports, shopping, and many habits (good/bad) fall into this category. To illustrate, try putting sand in a vase first... the big rocks will never fit. You may get a few stones in, but then you have to apply pressure and squish the sand out to fit it in. Messy. Not pretty at all. Dissatisfying. You get the visual. Time management is key to gaining your JOY back. It's fulfilling to know and live your purpose without all the wasted effort. Each morning I thank Daddy God for all He is and all He has done and will do. I pray and ask the Lord to lead me in all that I do, my work, my thoughts, my emotions and habits. Then I show my TO DO list for the day, release any worries, stress or emotional baggage and TRUST God with it all. Then I ask for His Word to speak to my heart and mind and teach me how to love. The Bible is God's Living Word and gives us wisdom to lead, guide and protect us. Next, we must read the word of God with no distractions. I write in my Bible and record dates and highlight passages that seem to jump off the page piercing my soul. After this, I worship in silence and give my full attention to only Jesus... listen, recognize His presence and sing. Listen and breathe softly, while waiting. Uplifting music, especially music with Christian lyrics -feeds my soul and helps me to hear the voice of God. Find your "theme song"... get a new one every week. What song instantly brings a smile, tugs at your spirit and fills you with JOY? Protect the start of your day so your body, mind and spirit align with the heart of God. When you are focused and balanced everything else functions at an optimal level. If my day fills with SAND, then stress increases and JOY decreases. That totally sucks. I promise you if you put in your rocks first, your stress levels will go down significantly! Start well... live well and you will love well. In college, I had an appetite for learning, education and figuring our what TOOLS successful people use. The principals in the rock illustration of time management is how I learned to organize my priorities, habits, routines and goals for every day. It works. For the last 25 years this has worked for me. Made a few tweaks, and added details with breakdown of how I spend that time in these key ROCK areas. How is your day filled? Can you set aside 20 min each day to START off RIGHT? ROCKS ...ready? ...set ...pray! GOD ROCKs
FAMILY ROCKs
BUSINESS ROCKs Should't exceed more than 60% of your day.
ME ROCKs
PEBBLES (2-4 hours MAX)
SAND (1-2 hours MAX)
There are still 2-5 hours left each day for PEBBLES and SAND and plenty of flexibility to handle emergencies without sacrificing the rocks. *Weekends and Hours vary according to sickness and health, life events (such as: weddings, divorce, funerals, births, job change/loss, moving and all the holidays) and where the ongoing priorities are in your schedule. Instant Stress Reliever TRY 10 for 10 - each family member does 10 simple tasks in 10 min to complete chores. (faster & way more fun with music - play your family's theme song for the week & rock it on!) Remember this works best if built on a solid foundation of sound biblical doctrine. |
Train yourself to stay focused with GOOD HABITS!
Invest TIME into Praying for Your PASSIONS. |
Sample Prayer List Outline |
My Prayers |
My Ten Most Wanted (2 Peter 3:9) |
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
Prayers for My Family
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Prayers for Leaders
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Prayers for Healing
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Focus Prayers for My Walk with God
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