Good, Better, Best II

After tucking the girls into bed tonight, I walked down the stairs and past my wife who was diligently entering another post on her blog. I tried to remember how long it had been since I started blogging, made two posts, and then quit. Sitting down next to her, I signed into my account and pulled up my blog. I couldn't believe it's been two months!

I started thinking about the number of times I've recommitted myself to a better study of the scriptures, writing in my journal, training for the St. George Marathon, reading a good book, eating better.... get the idea? It's so easy to get distracted! Too often we find ourselves so caught up in good activities that we never get to those better or best.

Dallin H. Oaks said it best: We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

Several months ago I attended a Franklin Covey workshop called Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities. The Franklin Covey planning system is built around clarifying your values, identifying your roles and creating a personal mission statement. In a sense, you then plan your life according to that mission statement. If an activity doesn't fit with your mission statement, then it's probably something that is just "good".

This week I'm going to dust off the planner and try using it again. Hopefully this will result in a better study of the scriptures, writing in my journal, training for the St. George Marathon, reading a good book, eating better... and maybe even a few blog posts!