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Strategic Thinking, Planning and Acting

Mary, you must be scraping the bottom to think that strategic thinking and marriage go together. How unromantic. Well actually Gary would say it has been our ability to strategically think, plan and act that has gotten us through so much of the challenge and difficulty anyone’s thirty years of marriage can represent.  So consider some simple rhythms that may help you align your energy and your calendar. Because it is much better going together.

Daily in the morning, I check in on the three big items our children want to accomplish that day. It is a good way to be current with their demands and in the evening we try to cycle back to their list to celebrate what happened during the day. Gary is included in the evening praise report.

For decades we have had a weekly Sunday Family Calendar meeting. Every one lays out what is coming up in their week, what they need help with, and what we need to negotiate for transport and support.  Gary and I make our own weekly plans and yes we put a certain event on the calendar.

Recently, we have initiated a quarterly review that Gary and I do together. It has helped to alleviate some of the frustration of events overtaking us and not accomplishing some couple goals we have had.  We look ahead to the next 90 days and map out the events for our large family and for us as a couple.

Now this doesn’t go like clockwork every time. Like any habit or routine, small steps of faithfulness walked over a long stretch of time adds up to some kind of wonderful. I love last minute but as my life has grown more complex with adult children and with an aging parent nearby it has been wrestling something as mundane as the calendar that has put us both in the same room, at the same time, in relatively stable moods. You have to be pretty intentional for this to happen! Here’s to a good strategy!

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