Introduction

I don’t know how the week has been for you. But, you’d agree with me that a week goes by so fast.

And, it’s gone, there isn’t much to change. However, you can decide how the following week will likely go for you. That choice is something you have to make now, or during the weekend.

Some people may refer to this as a review of your week.  In this post, I’m going to share with you three practices you should consider doing over the weekend. That way, you will have a more rewarding and meaningful week.

And, if you make these practices your weekly routine, I guarantee you’ll lead a successful life.

To have a meaningful week is something you choose to prepare for before the week starts.

1. Re-Center

In one of my previous writings, I talked about 3 steps to a happier weekend. You can go back to it if you want to, or you just continue reading this post.

To re-center is the first practice to help you prepare for the following week.

How then do you do it?

[bctt tweet=”To recenter is to bring and pull yourself back to the core of who you are.” username=””via PasteurEmmanuel””]

In order to recenter, you first need  a personal mission statement. This is what defines your everyday values and what you stand for in life. It’s your anchor. Every one needs a personal mission statement.

My personal mission statement is to help people live with clarity and confidence so that they can lead a successful life. I fulfill it through serving as a pastor, blogger and coach.

A personal mission statement is a translation of your calling in life into what you do now in your current living context. In other words, a mission statement evolves over time in terms of how it translates in the specific stages of your life.

Everything you do throughout the week is done through the lens of your personal mission statement.

In case you don’t have a personal mission statement, you could start reading “How to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement” by Stephen R. Covey. This resource is in Kindle format.

You can also read “How to Write A Personal Mission Statement In 8 Steps” by Barrie Davenport. She offers 5 personal mission statement samples that can be helpful to you.

Remember though that a personal mission statement is grounded in relationships. Who you are and what you do should be around people and how you can make them better.

A place to start from is your family, then your friends and community where you live.

To re-center is therefore about reconnecting with people who are dear to you.

2. Re-Connect

For you to re-connect you’re going to need to focus on two things: rest and relationships.

First, make sure you rest. 

After a long and busy week, we all want to rest. But, instead of rejuvenating ourselves over the weekend, we get sometimes even more tired.Rest has to primarily do with sleep.

The Harvard Medical School argues that sleep is beneficial for your health. Lack of it creates health problems such as weight gain, high blood pressure, and a decrease in the immune system’s power.

According to research, sleep helps with learning and memory, metabolism and weight, safety, mood, cardiovascular health (heart) and disease.

Making rest through sleep as your priority is therefore proven to be very beneficial for anyone. You are therefore able to experience the following:

• You are emotionally stable. You are aware of your own feelings as well as those of others around you.
• You are able to proactively handle any situation throughout the week.
• You are eventually more productive in what you do.

Second, focus on your relationships. 

You are who you are today as a result of relationships you’ve had in your life.

Yes, even those hurtful relationships have had an impact on how you live. In other words, relationships can easily shape your present behavior and character can easily.

That applies to your life on a daily and weekly basis. What I’m saying here is that there are relationships, faith, work, family or friend-related, which will either make or break you.

However, remember life is about choices. That means relationships you end up having are a choice you made at some point in life, or will make in the future.

To re-center is to rethink and re-order your relationships. Here’s what you could do:

• On a piece of paper, write all relationships you have.
• Next, list them as they play out during the week. Think in terms of your schedules: family, work, Church, etc.
• List them according to their priorities. What you have on top of the list represents the relationships that need your attention the most.
• Go down the list, and there may be one or two relationships that could require less attention, if not none, for the next week.

It’s a good exercise to do on a weekly basis. Out of that exercise, you’ll be surprised to discover that there are relationships you don’t need at this point.

You also find out that there are others, to which you can attend later, in a week or later.

What you learn through this exercise is the skill that helps you focus more on relationships that build you up for a successful week.

And, it is something you do over the weekend (Friday or Saturday) as you prepare for the following week. Sunday (evening) can also be a good time to do something like this.

3. Re-Focus

This step consists of aligning everything with your core values. There are three things that can help you re-focus and make your next week more meaningful.

Be clear about your priorities for the following week!

Decide what you should do and how what you do will affect people that are most dear to you.

My personal order of priority goes as follows: God, family, church (people), work (ministry), community, etc.

My days throughout the week have therefore to follow that order.These are based on the key relationships every human being should have.

I discuss more about this in this post, “3 Steps To Help You Be Your Best.”

Out of the priorities you have written down, develop tasks that will help you meet them during the week.

On a piece of paper or using your device (computer, smart phone or tablet), write your priorities and how you will accomplish tasks under each one of them.In case you have not been journaling, you can easily start one today.

Keep what you’ve written down in front of you throughout the week.

Have your journal always with you. Review it as often as you can. If you’re doing this for your first time, the whole thing may be a challenge.

But, when you do it once, twice or more, you will get better at it and grow.

Conclusion

Three practices you should apply to your weekends to help you have more successful and meaningful weeks: re-center, re-connect and re-focus.

How do you prepare for the week? Leave your comment in the box below.