Circling Back Around

Getting The Important Things Right

Circling Back Around

Evidently, “circling back around,” has become a negative phrase or cliché in the world of business. It means to come back, at a future date, to revisit what was discussed at an earlier date. I use it all the time. Isn’t that what should be happening in business? Shouldn’t we be following up on discussions, tasks, goals to make sure things are moving forward as discussed? Meanwhile, there are dozens of websites that help you say it, without saying it.

My Story

I think it’s a perfect phrase to describe the life of a believer- maybe even the life of anybody. Periodically, I have these overwhelming urges to circle back around to see where I am on things. Today, for example, it was to assess my spiritual life. I recognized I have been off balance: rushing in the morning, scripture reading that felt routine instead of devotional, unfocused thoughts, hours to write what takes 2 minutes to read, low energy during the day, long work hours with my day job, aches and stiffness from lack of exercise, and staying up late to watch some new show I discovered on Netflix.

Now, it’s the weekend. In the quiet of the morning, with nothing that I have to run immediately off to, I can think. I can follow-up on the nagging feeling that something is off. I get to circle back around to my spiritual health: to revisit what I’m doing/not doing, what my heart and mind are saying, how the Word of God is speaking to me and what He’s saying to me. In my alone time, I get to read, think, pray, and cry- even, cry out lout (that’s not just a cliché, it’s a real thing.)

When I’m done, my soul is restored. My Father has worked a good thing in me. It’s Isaiah 30:21 coming to reality, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

What it Looks Like

If you’re a goal-oriented person, with multiple goals, there’s a chance you do something similar. Is that right? One day, you are circling around to assess your faith. Other days you are circling back to assess the other major areas of your life. For me, I divide them into 5 categories. You may have your own list of 3-7. If you have not taken upon you to consider it, I urge you to do so.  It’s impossible to grow or get better in an area that you don’t take stock of from time to time and have clear measurable goals for.

My list is:

Faith

Finance

Family

Fitness

Finishing well

These are the areas in life that are most important to me and are the basis for the major decisions I make. I want to have a stronger faith, prosperous financial portfolio, thriving family relationships, fruitful fitness plan, and to live in light of finishing the race to hear my Father say, “Well done.”

Benefits

It’s impossible to attend to multiple things at the same time and do them well, without circling back to each from time to time. That’s my opinion. So, we set goals in these important areas. We set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. Then we create actionable steps to work towards those goals and create mile- markers to determine how we are coming along in each.

Conclusion

You’ll figure out your own system of circling back. Things that hold a higher priority (like faith), you may circle back to more often. Other things, you may circle back to less frequently. Or you may circle around to them equally, monthly, weekly, or daily. The more consistent you are in circling back to assess and fine tune your plan, could improve your chances of success. Be aware of competing priorities. And regardless of the details of your goals and plans, be attentive to the voice signaling you that you are off course and saying, “this is the way…”