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The Danger of Too Many Pursuits
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 provides a good example of a leader who didn’t know how to get what he wanted. We can learn from Solomon’s costly mistakes.
By the time Solomon wrote these words, he had reached a high level of success—but still felt empty. He couldn’t put his finger on why fulfillment continued to escape him. Because he lacked focus, he searched high and low, experimenting with all kinds of goals, yet never achieved satisfaction. Sadly, he attempted to solve an inward problem with an outward solution.
The old axiom remains true: if you chase two rabbits, both will escape. This was certainly true of Solomon—he pursued eight goals in Ecclesiastes 2 alone!
In Ecclesiastes 12, we learn that Solomon eventually did narrow his focus, but it took him a lifetime to do so. He finally determined what really mattered and what he really wanted.
Letting Go of Nice Things that Don’t Matter
Paul’s absolute focus gave him a willingness to let go of the following:
- His Heritage: A Hebrew of Hebrews (Philippians 3:5)
- His Pure Image: From the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5)
- His Former Legalism: A Strict Pharisee (Philippians 3:5)
- His Past Zeal: A Persecutor of the Church (Philippians 3:6)
- His Self-Righteousness: A Blameless Life (Philippians 3:6)
Paul so narrowed his focus that he discarded not only the things he once counted as gain, but he counted everything as garbage for the sake of obtaining Christ!
Out of This World Leaders have a sharp focus. Think of examples from the Bible and the focus they had to change the world:
- Abraham left his homeland, wealth, and friends for a new land because he focused on an unseen kingdom.
- Joseph had strength to endure hardship and prisons because his dream focused on the greatness of God.
- Moses could turn his back on Egypt because he focused on God’s plan.
- Stephen preached an unpopular message and died a martyr because of his focus.
- Jesus told Martha, “Only one thing is necessary.”
How about you? Have you figured out your focus? How do you make major decisions? What tends to influence you most?
- The Ultimate: First Things First
- The Urgent: Loud Things First
- The Unpleasant: Hard Things First
- The Unfinished: Last Things First
- The Unfulfilling: Dull Things First
Consider the following when you make decisions about where to invest your limited time, energy, and resources:
- Is this consistent with my priorities?
- Is this within my area of competence?
- Can someone else do it better?
- What do my trusted friends say?
- Do I have the time?
When you say “yes” to an opportunity, get ready to focus. Make to-do lists. Set your priorities. Pursue excellence, but avoid perfectionism. Use the calendar, and don’t try to do everything. That means you’ll have to say no to some good things.
What does it take to gain the focus to become a truly effective leader? The keys are priorities and concentration. A leader who knows his priorities but lacks concentration knows what to do, but never gets it done. A leader with concentration but no priorities has excellence without progress. But when leaders harness both, they gain the potential to achieve great things.
What about you? Stay Focused, as you shoot for the stars!