One of the common denominators of successful people is a single-minded focus that allows them to concentrate on first things first.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in “The Conduct of Life”, “Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short, in all of human affairs.” While many people squander their physical and mental abilities, successful people learn how to focus, concentrate, and persist.
Yet even those with a clear sense of purpose sometimes lose their focus and their ability to concentrate on priorities. Why? I’ve found it is usually the result of too much internal clutter.
I’ve identified four types of clutter that I strive to keep out of my life. The benefit is that I’m much better able to concentrate on that which I do best.
1. Emotional clutter. This is the relational baggage that can accumulate when we don’t forgive those who have wronged us, when we hold a grudge, or when we carry a chip on our shoulder because of a grievance long past.
The price of holding on to emotional clutter is too high. Not only will it steal energy from your focus, but it has serious emotional and spiritual consequences as well.
2. Administrative clutter. Early on I discovered the need for a system to help me deal with multiple projects and multiple deadlines.
I have at least 20 things to accomplish in the next three days, and I will be able to get them all done because I have learned to organize so I don’t waste time looking around for things or wondering what comes next. There’s nothing magical about my system. Find one that works for you and do it.
3. Calendar clutter. This is simply mastering the basic principle of time management; you must prioritize your work and spend your best effort on that which will yield the most return.
Take a few moments to start listing all the things you’ve done in the last 24 hours that gave you no return whatsoever. Why did you do them? Do they need to be done at all, or can someone else better do them for you?
I haven’t mowed my lawn in over 30 years. Some people like working in the yard. I don’t. Why would I give a couple of hours a week to something that has no payoff for me when I could give those same hours to concentrate on my priorities?
4. Trivia clutter. I always lose at Trivial Pursuit (TM) because I don’t commit to memory anything that I can find quickly in a book or from someone else. It’s not that I have a bad memory – I just don’t see the value in allowing insignificant things to detract me from my focus.
Most people try to live in the path of a flood of trivial phone calls, emails, and meetings. I say get rid of the trivia.
With clutter-free living, you’ll find your focus clear and your anxieties diminished. More importantly, you’ll see a level of productivity that you’ve never experienced before. You are set free to concentrate on that which you were created to accomplish.
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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.
