Would, Could, Should
Eclectic interests. They can be fun and they keep life interesting, but it’s so easy to get distracted by “shiny” things. (If you’ve seen the movie Up, you’ll understand if I stop all of a sudden and shout, “SQUIRREL!”)
Flitting works well for butterflies, but not so much for people.
As we look at our Action Plan (aka our To Do List), we may want to categorize each item. Would? Could? Should?
The Would List almost always has a second column: the If List. “I would do this, if that happened.” Perhaps, the items on this list should get tucked away. If we review the “if side” of the equation from time to time, we’ll know if we should bump up an item to our Could—or even our Should—List.
Of course, our best intentions tell us to put the Should List up front. But do we? On paper, it’s fairly easy. Living it out, on the other hand . . .
My biggest stumbling block is probably the Could List. “Oo, I could do that.” “That looks interesting.” “I wonder if I could take on just one more thing?”
Although I haven’t read it, I did pick up a copy of Refuse to Choose. Some people are very focussed and work toward a single goal. That’s great if that’s the way you’re wired—and if the goal passes the litmus test that actually earns it a place on the Should List. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing several things . . . if you’re a good juggler.
We would-be jugglers must also focus . . . at least on one thing at a time, no matter how fleetingly. That brings me back to the Should List.
If we have a clear view of what we should do, it will help us keep our priorities straight. If we accomplish these things first, we’ll have a better idea of how much time we actually have for the Coulds and Woulds.
Stephen Covey gave great advice on choosing our personal Should List. He recommends that we decide what we want others to say about us at our funeral and work backwards from there. He also refers to the “urgent” and the “important.”
The Urgent are those things that distract us from what is truly important. It used to be the phone or the doorbell. Now it’s Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn and Google +. (For some of us, it’s still the phone and the doorbell.)
The Urgent can also include those externally- or internally-imposed guilt trips. “I should keep my floors clean enough to eat off of.” “I should finish just one more project for work before I relax with my family.” “I should be able to get everything on my list done each day.”
As Christians, we have the ultimate guidelines. They’re called The Scriptures. Studying God’s Word ought to be right at the top of our list. The more we do so, the easier it will be to categorize the things on our Action Plan.
Stephanie has many interests, some of which you can read about on her blog: Steph Nickel’s Eclectic Interests.
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