(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
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Do you ever have one of those moments when you look at the calendar and wonder where the month went? You weren't sitting around doing nothing. In fact, you were probably busy from the moment your feet hit the floor each morning. You answered emails.
You showed up for meetings. You took care of your family. You ran errands.
You handled unexpected problems like a champ. You crossed dozens of things off your to-do list. And yet somehow the goals that mattered barely moved.
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If you've ever reached the middle of the month and thought, wait a minute, what happened to the thing I said was important? Then today's episode is for you. Because progress rarely disappears all at once. It disappears a little at a time and can happen before we even know it.
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One busy day, or one missed review, or one week spent reacting instead of leading, until suddenly we're wondering why our lives feel full but our priorities feel neglected. Today we're talking about one of the most powerful habits high performers use to stay aligned, focused, and moving forward. It's called review, refine, repeat.
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Welcome to Goals and Grace with Rev. Dr. Juliet Spencer, certified high performance coach and former pastor. Where we protect what matters, finish what we start, and do it with a joyful heart. Ready to lead with love, not depletion? Let's go.
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Before we dive in, I hope you'll stay until the very end today because I have a special favor to ask. Something that I believe will benefit us both. Now I'll be honest.
For years I thought my problem was discipline. I thought if I could just become more organized, more efficient, or better at managing my time, everything would finally fall into place. But eventually I realized something that surprised me.
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The problem wasn't discipline. Well, every now and then it was. The problem was that I wasn't stopping long enough to evaluate what was actually working.
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I was moving constantly, but I wasn't reflecting. I was busy, but I wasn't necessarily intentional. And without a regular rhythm of review, it was far too easy to drift away from what mattered.
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I also wasn't stopping long enough to look at where I was actually headed. I would spend entire weeks working hard only to discover that most of my energy had gone towards responding to other people's priorities instead of advancing my own. Maybe you've experienced that too.
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You arrive at Friday exhausted. You've worked hard all week and been fairly productive, but when someone asks what meaningful progress you've made towards your bigger goals, you're really not sure how to answer. That's when I learned an important lesson.
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You can't improve what you refuse to examine. And here's what's really important. The review isn't punishment.
It's awareness. It's the moment you stop long enough to ask, What's working? What's not working? What energized me? What drained me? Who am I becoming? Who do I choose to be? Management expert Peter Drucker famously said, What gets measured gets managed. I think that's true, but not because numbers are magical, of course.
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Rather, it's because attention changes behavior. The things we pay attention to tend to improve, while the things we ignore tend to drift. In my own experience, and in the lives of many of my clients, the drift is rarely intentional.
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Most people don't wake up one morning and decide to neglect their health, or their relationships, or their spiritual lives, or their most important goals. Life simply gets noisy. And I'm sure we all get it.
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Urgent things crowd out important things. Before we know it, we're moving fast, but not necessarily moving in the right direction. That's why I have taught for years the importance of creating a simple review rhythm.
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Every month, usually on the first day of the month, I sit down and review 10 areas of my life. I evaluate myself and how much time, energy, and focus, and effectiveness I devoted to these things. My energy, emotions, love, family, friends, my mission, my experiences, my spirit, my finances, and my learning.
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My energy, emotions, love, family, friends, mission, experiences, spirit, finances, and learning. I score each one because, well, scoring forces honesty. A 3 isn't an 8. And a 7 isn't a 10.
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The process kind of helps me see what I might otherwise ignore. And then I ask a simple question. What is one thing I could do this month to improve this area? The temptation for quite a few of my high performer, rock star friends is to try to improve multiple things at once.
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I mean, if improving one thing is good, then improving six things is better, right? But I don't usually recommend that because it's just too easy to get burned out or to become discouraged. Plus, you'll be able truly to lean into that one change, especially if it's a significant one, and get adjusted to that to give it your all before being distracted by something else you're trying to change. Now, obviously, if it's small, subtle changes, then yeah, by all means, you can do more than one.
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But if you're really focusing to improve one area, then I recommend just working to improve that one. Many leaders in psychology and neuroscience teach us that transformation rarely comes through dramatic change. It usually comes through consistent attention.
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Like one healthier habit, or one courageous conversation, one financial adjustment, or one spiritual practice that you actually practice. It's one step taken repeatedly. Those small improvements compound over time.
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Without a review rhythm, months can just vanish before you know it. You wake up halfway through the month wondering what you've been chasing. But when you review intentionally, you stay connected to what you value, to what you believe matters.
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You become proactive instead of reactive. And there's a spiritual dimension to this as well. Scripture is filled with examples of reflection.
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King David repeatedly paused to examine his heart before God. Consider Psalm 139, verses 23 to 24. He prays, Notice his posture.
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He's not after perfection. He's after awareness. David isn't pretending everything's fine.
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He's inviting God into the evaluation process, which is exactly what we're doing when we review our lives honestly. And we don't need to beat ourselves up, but we do need to pay attention. I have friends who are unwilling to review themselves because they find that it sends their self-confidence down a rabbit hole, a spiral of, well, a spiral toward despair.
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Friends, it does not need to be that way. God does not give us a spirit of shame. And so the goal is to be able to review, to be honest with yourself and before God, and to say, this just simply is, and then take the next step forward.
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So you don't have to beat yourself up. Just pay attention. We're asking God to help us become more aligned with our values and our ambition, with who we're called to be, and with who we choose to be.
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And then, once a month is established, bring that same attention into every week. And so every Sunday, spend 10 or 15 minutes looking ahead and ask yourself, what outcome matters this week? Who do I need to serve? What conversations need my attention? Do my calendar and priorities actually match? And then look at the week past. Where did I show up in a way that was really helpful? How might I have handled my anxiety better? What's something I could have said no to in order to say yes more fully? One of the greatest causes of frustration is expecting results from priorities that never made it onto our calendar or never protected on the calendar.
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Another frustration is never actually improving because we didn't take time to look at what we did in the previous day or the previous week or the previous month and set a new goal for the next. We say something matters, then we need truly need to give it time. 10 minutes of clarity can prevent 10 hours of chaos.
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Once the week begins, anchor your mornings. I've spoken of this several times because it's true. Anchoring your mornings can have a positive impact on your whole day.
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So choose your attitude. Ask yourself, who do I choose to be today? And if you can, be even more specific. Who do I choose to be in this meeting? Who do I choose to be in this time block? Who do I choose to be when I'm answering the email with the person who drives me insane? But spend time in the morning anchoring it.
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And one of the most important things you can do is ask who you'll choose to be. So choose your attitude. Bring the joy.
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Make time, even if you only have a few minutes, to connect with God. And if possible, create a meaningful moment with someone. It might mean sending an audio text or inviting somebody for a cup of joe.
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Or just taking a cup of joe to your partner or the next door neighbor. Or maybe even arrange to take your pastor for a quick bite with some coffee. I had to throw that one in there because meeting somebody for coffee before the work day was one of my favorite ways to visit with members of my church and with friends.
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Winning the morning doesn't guarantee a perfect day, but it dramatically increases the likelihood that you'll approach the day with intention instead of reaction. How does review, refine, and repeat work in real life? Well, it starts with review. Where did I show up as my best self? Where could I have transitioned better between tasks or meetings? Was my behavior consistent with my values? What did I complete? Where did I drift? What gave me energy? What stole my focus? And then refine.
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Choose fewer, clearer outcomes for the next cycle. Simplify your path by removing unnecessary complexity. Don't try to add five new initiatives.
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Tighten your focus instead. And then repeat. Set your time blocks with clear purpose and expectations.
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Protect your energy. Move every hour. Drink plenty of water.
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And honor the commitments you've made to yourself. And then run the process again. Review, refine, repeat.
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Now, as you're implementing this process, here are a few traps to watch for. The first is thinking that the review needs to take hours. It doesn't.
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Keep your weekly review under 15 minutes. Keep your monthly review under 45. The second trap is overstuffing your week.
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Most people consistently underestimate what focus requires. Choose three meaningful finishers for the week and let everything else be secondary. The third trap is waiting until you feel ready.
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Readiness is often a result of action, not a prerequisite for it. Did you know that motivation tends to show up after we begin? That was a big eye-opener to me. It often doesn't come before, but after we begin.
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So start the block. Take the first step and let momentum do its work. And here's your challenge.
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Right after this episode, do a two-minute micro-review by asking yourself three questions. What worked last week? What didn't? What one outcome would prove that this week mattered? And then put two focus blocks on your calendar to support that outcome. And that's it.
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Simple. And next Sunday, start the process over again. Review.
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Refine. Repeat. Most people wait for clarity before they act.
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But as you've heard me say, clarity often comes because we stop and reflect on our actions. The people who make consistent progress aren't necessarily smarter and they're not necessarily more talented. They're simply willing to pause long enough to learn.
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Again and again. Year after year. That's how small wins become major transformation.
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And that's how goals become reality. In other words, that's how a life of intention is built. This week, don't aim for perfect.
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Aim for aware. Momentum isn't magic, my friend. It's habit.
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And habits practiced consistently change lives. You're probably going to get tired of me saying this, but just like I love to talk about Jesus, I am passionate about sharing this. Why? Because it's science-backed truth.
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God created us, apparently, to need a certain amount of structure, of repetition, and predictability in order to change. To really change. Review.
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Refine. Repeat. Next week is Part 11 of 12 on Decision Fitness.
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Week 11, Boundaries at Home and Work. You won't want to miss it. Before we go, would you do me a favor? Let me know by messaging me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or email me to let me know what you've gotten from this series.
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It can be a sentence, a word, or a story. I've shared before that I'm always preaching to myself, and the same is true of Goals in Grace, but I want to make sure that it's meeting your needs. So the first thing is to share what you've taken from this series.
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The second is would you let me know what topic or topics you would like me to address? What's freaking you out right now? What's weighing you down? Where do you need some practical tips, some inspiration from scripture? What has you excited? What kinds of things get you revved up to go harder and climb higher? I'll leave my contact info in the show notes. And thanks in advance, my friend. And may God bless you with Goals in Grace.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
