God gave you and l the gift of life and if we are to make our lives count, then we must learn to maximize our time here on earth. Maximizing your life is simply maximizing your use of time. If we maximize the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years; then we will maximize our lives to the fullest.
The Bible gives us a marvelous insight into time; it states that time is a limited resource and must be used wisely. Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Time is the currency of life. It is the most valuable commodity on earth, so use it wisely. Remember, you become whatever you spend your time doing!
How To Maximize Your Life in 2021 and beyond
- Have a clear vision and Purpose
Living life without a clear vision is living life without direction. Vision is seeing beyond where your eyes or your mind can see. It is seeing tomorrow from today. It is seeing the end from the beginning. Having a clear vision helps you to prioritize which opportunities to bypass and which activities deserve your dedication. A clear vision illuminates the path in front of you as you select which roads to travel down in life.
Vision shapes purpose. Purpose gives birth to plans. Plans help us layout goals. Goals become incremental steps that take us towards an expected end.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
- Establish your priorities based on that vision
There will never be enough time to do all the things you want to do. Do the most important tasks first and do the least important ones last. Have a list of things to do and do them in a particular order. Follow the example of Jesus and turn down tasks that are not aligned to your vision.
John 7:6-9 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.
- Avoid distractions
Be focused on the ultimate goal and not the side talks, which are part of the enemies’ strategies to distract you from the real focus. The easiest path to failure is a broken focus. Not every invitation is a blessing, not every opportunity is a blessing. The devil’s greatest weapon to a disciplined woman or man is distraction, not sin. Remember, not everything that is good is right.
Adopt the strategy that Paul used to remain focused: Philippians 3:13-14 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
- Be diligent and pursue your passion
The dictionary meaning of the word diligent is constant in effort, attentive and persistent in the pursuit of accomplishing something. When you find your purpose, keep on top of it, don’t let it slip from you, be persistent, you might fail, but get back up and start again.
Proverbs 22:29 Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.
- Avoid Procrastination
Procrastination is said to be the thief of time. Procrastinators always say “I will do it later”; “I will do it “tomorrow”; “next time”, later…..Avoid procrastination at all cost. It is always better to act and fail than not to act at all. The difference between a high performer and a mediocre is taking action. A mediocre will not take risks, but a high performer will rise to the occasion when opportunity calls. You can overcome the habit of procrastination by telling yourself, “Do it now!” Mike Murdock said: “Yesterday is in the tomb, tomorrow is in the womb, and today is what you have”. So, do what you have to do today and avoid procrastination.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
- Start small- don’t despise small beginnings
When you have big dreams in your heart, the small things can sometimes be frustrating, especially when they seem to linger for a while. It’s easy to despise the day of small beginnings, but anything big started small. Don’t rush through the beginning, because when things mature before their time, they often don’t have the strength to maintain the level they have achieved prematurely. God rejoices to see the work begin. It’s progress that pleases Him. So, start from where you are, take your time, pay attention, and find joy in today and the journey to come. All great things start from a small seed.
Zechariah 4:10 (NLT) Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
- Guard your environment
Surround yourself with people who will encourage you. Spend your time with positive people who encourage you and pick you up when times are rough. If you want to soar with the eagles, you can’t run with the chickens! If you’re going to be wise, you’ve got to get some wise people in your life. You don’t need a lot of friends in life. You just need a few good friends who build you up, not tear you down—people who are wise, not fools. If you hang around with fools, that’s what you become.
Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.