One of the easiest ways to ruin a good song is to play it at the wrong tempo. The same can happen in life. We have the best of intentions, we know the lyrics, but we play it too fast and miss the beauty.

“Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day.” -Dallas WIllard

If we are not intentional we will naturally keep speeding up. This happens to me on the highway. If I don’t set the cruise control and be intentional my speed goes up and I don’t even notice. Hurry is dangerous. So how do we begin to be more intentional?

1. Establish dashboards

The dashboard of my car has a lot of information. There are lights that will turn on to let me know if there is a problem. The dashboard is continually monitoring levels and temperatures of various things throughout my vehicle. The dashboard let’s me know if I need gas or if it is time for an oil change.

What if we intentionally identified the priorities in our lives and created a dashboard to help monitor it. I use a free “Life Wheel” app for this. There are a ton of these types of apps to choose from. I love it because a “Life Wheel” is a visual way to see each of my priorities and make a plan for being healthy.

What are your priorities? Here are some examples:

• Faith Life – My relationship with God
• Marriage Life – My relationship with Kara
• Family Life – My relationship with my kids and immediate family
• Physical Life – Am I taking care of myself?
• Work Life – My relationship with people at work. Am I being faithful to the assignment that God has given me?
• Social Life – My relationship with friends
• Attitudinal Life – An attitude check
• Creative Life – Am I dreaming? Am I full of God’s vision?
• Financial Life – My personal finances? Am I being a good steward?
• Travel Life – Is my schedule healthy?

Take time to make your own list and create a dashboards that you review each week.

2. Give calendar time to your priorities

After determining your priorities, put them on your schedule first. I have found that if I don’t put these big rocks in first then the rest will not fit.

3. Don’t sacrifice the important for the urgent

There will always be things that feel urgent. Rarely do priorities in life feel urgent. The important things are not loud and flashy. The important things are quiet and are easily overlooked. However, in the end, they are all that matter.

That may mean you disappoint people by saying no to good opportunities so that you can say yes to God opportunities.

4. Receive grace

We are all going to get it wrong from time to time. Life happens. Maybe you are reading this and thinking to yourself, “What’s the use? I’ve done this before and failed.” Receive the grace of God and get up again. There is a reason you are reading this right now! God is not finished in your life!

Let’s live this life that the Lord has given us at the right tempo.

Have a great day.