Six ways you know you’re doing the right thing

Six ways you know you’re doing the right thing

Every one of us wants to have the best impact that we can have when it comes to kingdom work.  We all want to make sure that what we are doing is valuable and has long term life changing effects, not to mention the moving forward of the local church.  Therefore we all want to make sure that we are not just doing things right, but that we are doing the right things.  Doing something with little value, correctly over and over again may bring little results over the long haul even though a tremendous amount of work and energy is going into the task being done.  Doing the right thing, even poorly, although we should always strive to build up to excellence, may bring far more impactful, long lasting dividends.  So what are some key indicators that you are doing the right thing, not just the wrong thing right.

1. Long term goals or short terms results? A quick way to tell if you are doing the right things instead of just doing things right, is to ask yourself, “Is what I am doing having a short term result that will end up  in having to deal with the same problem over again or a long term resolution that fixes the problem once and for all”.

2. Most return for the investment made. How much time and effort are you putting into things that bring about little or no results.  Doing the right things means investing in areas of work that give the most return for the effort put in.  Time is valuable and slipping away fast.  Investing your time in things that have the highest impact for the effort put in is the best way to move the organization forward.

3. Does it kick the ball down the field in regards to ministry goals? Being busy for the sake of just being busy brings no long term results.  Doing the right things brings about the results of moving not only your personal goals forward but the goals of the whole team or organization.  It takes a team to win the game.  Having the whole team just doing things right without doing the right things, results in either the ball not moving or moving in the wrong direction.

4. Does it push or hinder the momentum wheel? I have been involved in a number of organizations that do everything right but fail to move forward.  Momentum is a best friend to leaders.  A leader with momentum on his/her side can do nothing wrong, a leader without momentum can do nothing right.  Doing activities that push the wheel forward bring about the best results.

5. Does it unite or divide the organization? Doing things right when it is an activity that does not unite but divides the organization over department or ministry lines is not helpful.  Doing the right things promotes unity and team building.
6. Does it promote an opportunity or solve a problem. One of the ways you can quickly tell if what you are doing is the right thing or just doing things right is to ask the question, “Is this just solving a problem, or is it maximizing an opportunity.  We can spend all of our time just solving problems (the tyranny of the urgent) or  doing the right things that maximize selected opportunities for long term kingdom work.   Making strategic investments in key opportunities eventually reduces the need to solve short term problems and brings about the greatest reward.

You can be the most effective by doing the right things as opposed to doing things right. The way you know you are on the right track is to do things that meet the long term goals, return the best investment, kick the ball down the field the farthest , push the momentum wheel, unites the organization and promotes opportunities to move forward.