Priority Power-Up: How to Focus On The Right Things for Creative Success in 2024

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You? Do you have your priorities in line? Do you know exactly what you have to focus on in the coming year of 2024? Or are you still trying to do all other things and finding yourself so stretched thin that you're really not sure if you're making any progress in your creative career and you're going over and over again over the same things and feeling like you're going to get different results, but you're getting the same results. I'm going to help you with establishing your priorities and explain why that is one of the key things you have to do to have success in 2024.

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In today's creative checkup episode of The God and Gig Show, give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our show and then we'll get right into this important conversation.

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Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. And if you're new to our show, you are in the right place at the right time. And let me explain why. First of all, let me introduce myself.

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My name is Allen C. Paul. I'm a creative coach. I'm a musician, I'm an author, and I'm here to help you to transform your creative life from the inside out by applying timeless spiritual principles to the temporary creative problems that you've been facing. We do that here in our podcast.

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We do that in our membership, god and Gigs 360 Gold. We do all kinds of things to help you to become the creative that you were created to be. So you're in the right place at the right time. Definitely subscribe click the notifications if you're watching on YouTube and make sure that you don't miss any of this inspiration and inspiration lost another word. What's another word?

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Encouragement that you need for today's life as a creative. Okay, now let's get into our conversation because I got a little tripped up there and I wanted to make sure I stay focused. Just like I just talked about. Let's stay focused on the right things in 2024. Now, when you talk about a priority, the first thing I'd like to say is this is kind of like a pet peeve of mine, because the actual word priority can really not be made plural.

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If something is a priority, it is the priority. There can only be one. It's like there can only be one first. It can't be like a first and a first. A one, a one B, one C.

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There's really only one person that's first or one at the top, and that's the way a priority is. So when we say in America, especially with productivity and things like that, we say priorities. We're kind of mixing up what the actual word means. But I get it. It's really hard for you to put one thing at the top.

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Now, most of us as Christian creatives, we think God is at the top, which of course he is. But then there's all these other things that compete for our attention and our time. So when I wrote the book God and Gigs, and I talk about this in our confident, creative blueprint as well, how do you establish priority? Well, it really comes down to your actions. What do you do first?

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What is the first thing you push toward? Where is your heart, really? The Bible says, where your treasure is, that's where your heart is. So what we're really trying to figure out when I'm talking about establishing a priority for 2024 is not just setting goals. It's not just saying, I'm going to achieve this, this in this order.

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It's really deciding that you're going to make a single focus of your creative career. Now, in my book, I explain a little bit about how I decided my focus was going to basically be in the local sphere as being a worship musician, being a gigging musician, really not focusing much on any kind of recording, even though I have done some of those things. But my focus was really going to be on that core place of people who are in my world, developing a small community and really pouring into them while focusing on my family. That was my priority. So all of my decisions creatively, professionally, even in a way spiritually, have come from that one decision.

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I'm going to focus here. Now, of course, as I have evolved and as my career has evolved, I brought in many other things that fit inside that umbrella of that priority. But it really was the key priority. I was getting married at the time that I was thinking about this. I was worried about getting all of my worries about trying to be here and be there and going on tour and all of that just did not fit with me in terms of the way I think.

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Now, I want to quickly say to many of you who are saying, no, I do want to do those kind of things. That's where I want to put my goals. That's where my priority is, then that's great. But you see, that single focus determines the rest of the decisions that you make around that single focus. What you decide to aim for then makes little decisions for you throughout your rest of your career.

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So leading into 2024, it's better to take a long time to sit down and think, what is my priority? What is the one thing if nothing else gets done? I want this to get done. And then it makes the rest of the decisions for you around what you're going to have to do. Now, that can work, obviously, in your business.

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It can work in your creative life, it can even work in your family. So we're talking about establishing a priority that really determines how you're going to focus the rest of your creative energy throughout the year and again, this is not a one size fits all. And it doesn't mean that you won't have many other goals that fit underneath this initial goal or this initial priority that you're going to set. But it does mean you have to set a priority first. And that means once you've set it, you've got a clear indication of what success and failure looks like.

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And you really can't aim at a target unless you know what that target is, and then you know whether you've hit it or not whenever you actually go through with your plans. Now, all of this sounds like probably more like goal setting. It probably sounds more like planning than sounds like a creative exercise, but it really is a creative exercise, as you can probably think of. So many projects that you are going to try are going to be based on your single focus for that project, for whatever you're going to work on. And if it's an album, if it's a work of art, if it's a speech, if it's a business idea, whatever it is, if it's going to take the majority of your time, you're going to have to make room for it.

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And that means saying no to many other things. I know that many of us struggle with that word as creatives, saying no to other things, but sometimes you have to say no to the good, to say yes to the great. So my challenge to you with this particular creative checkup episode is to sit down and not think of priorities, but to think of a priority, one priority that will shape the rest of the decisions that go into 2024. And again, this does not mean that you won't have many goals that fit underneath that priority. That really help to complement that priority so that you have other things that you'll get done so that it does influence the way that you work, the way that you worship, the way that you integrate with your community.

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The way that you work with your family. All of those things will fit underneath this priority. So don't think of it as a one size fits all. I can't do anything else but this one thing for the entire 365 days a year. As a matter of fact, I ascribe to something called the twelve week year.

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You can check out that book. It's a great book which really talks about setting a priority just for twelve weeks and setting those things up so that you really have less of a year long plan. I think more of simply a periodic plan that really makes it easy for you to reach your goals. Not necessarily easy, I guess I could say makes it more doable and manageable because you're not trying to think out for twelve months, but only for twelve weeks. So check that book out.

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It's called the twelve week year. But no matter what you do, do not think that you have to do all of the things or fit all of the boxes when it comes to a creative life, that you have to be both a touring musician and a gigging musician and a musician that could do this and that and all the things. No, you cannot do all the things. As an artist, as a performer, you are not supposed to do all the things. But you will begin to see room for other things once you set your single priority in place, and they will complement that single priority.

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So I challenge you and I encourage you today, think about that before you move into 2024. And if you're listening in 2024, it's never too late. You can simply move on to the next year, or the next season, or the next cycle, or the next part of the year and simply say, okay, now I'm setting this as my priority. Everything else will fit around it, and I will make sure that I focus on that thing. The Bible even really talks about this when it talks about the one thing that David desired, that thing he would seek.

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And then he says three things after that, that he would behold the beauty of the Lord, that he would inquire in his temple, and that he would seek his face. Those three things all fit into the one thing that David desired in Psalm 27. It's the same thing with you. Fix your one desire, but then all the other things that complement that desire or that goal or that priority will flow from your focus on that one thing. I challenge you, and I think you'll do an amazing job in 2024, in the coming years, if you do that.

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Well, my friends, that's our creative checkup for today. If you want more help with focus, we have a great resource for you. It's called our roadmap. It is our roadmap, which gives you those seven steps, kind of what we're walking through today, but in a different way that really kind of sets up how you find that priority, how you set those things in order, how you integrate it with your everyday life. You can get that@godandge.com roadmap.

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We'll also put a link to it in our show notes and description of this particular episode. And always remember, if you really want to get yourself focused, get around other people who are focused. That's what we do in our God and Gigs 360 Gold program. Definitely want to check that out. You'll always see what's going on in terms of joining that membership.

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If there is something that allows you to get a longer or shorter trial, there's always something available for you@godandgigs.com gold. That's where you can get the resources and the information, or simply check the link in the show notes in the description. Well, my friend, I hope this has blessed you. So until next time, continue to become the creative that it to be. God bless, and I'll see you next episode.

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Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gigs show. Please leave us a review on Itunes, like our Facebook page, or visit godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show. We'll be back soon. In the meantime, go create something amazing.