We all have goals we’d like to achieve, dreams we want to see become a reality, and priorities we want to elevate. But at the end of the day, the work week, or even the year, we often look back and wonder where the time went. Did we do the things we’d hoped to do? Did we check all the boxes? Did our actions align with our priorities?

Today on the Think Orange Podcast, Reggie Joiner discusses the importance of alignment on your teams and in your ministry. Then Carey Nieuwhof shares strategies for increasing your personal and professional effectiveness in the new year.

Welcome to the Think Orange Podcast’s first episode of 2018.

Topic Timeline:

Reggie talks about alignment (5:00)

Reggie shares what he learned about alignment at motorcycle safety school (5:00)

Reggie’s illustration of navigating through the orange traffic cones (7:20)

Vision doesn’t determine success—strategy does (9:35)

Definition of strategy: a plan of action with an end in mind (10:45)

The most important thing you can do as a NextGen team is work in alignment (11:50)

You don’t have to work at getting misaligned (12:05)

Two questions for creating alignment: What do we want someone to become? and Where do we want them to be? (12:35)

The most practical thing you can do to work on your team’s strategy is to get in the same room and on the same page (14:55)

Dave and Kevin recap Reggie’s talk and discuss how easy it is to get misaligned both at home and in ministry (16:30)

Interview with Carey (18:55)

Carey sings New Year’s Day by U2 (21:20)

How to increase personal capacity (21:30)

The difficulty with time management (22:15)

Managing energy and priorities instead of time (24:35)

How to say “no” nicely (26:25)

High impact leaders do what they’re best at when they’re at their best (31:45)

The tendency many of us have to cheat our gifts (34:30)

We have more control over our calendars than we think (36:20)

Ways to manage your yearly calendar to maximize personal time (38:30)

Details of The High Impact Leader Online Course (46:10)

Advice for leaders facing burnout (48:00)

Dave and Kevin’s final thoughts (50:05)