Evaluation.

Rigorous, systematic, evaluation of yourself.

The evaluators can include others, but MUST include yourself… because at the end of the day, you know you best.

Right now I am evaluating my prayer life and my performance in the gym, among other things.

Sitting over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, talking to no one, reading a book, listening to the quiet whispers in my soul… I know some things are missing.

I’ve known this for a while… but I haven’t known them as clearly or heard them as loudly as today.

Why?

Because today I set apart some time for a rigorous self evaluation.

Now, an evaluation is not necessarily a “let’s beat the crap out of myself” session. Nope. It is an honest evaluation of where I am, whether or not I am happy here, and what I need to do to grow to the next level.

This exercise has many uses… in fact, it is helpful for every area of life: spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, relational, professional… and any other word that ends in “al” that you can think of!

I want my biceps and my faith to grow… so that requires that I spend some time evaluating!

A few practices that I’ve found to be helpful in this area include:

• Plan a regular meeting with yourself to evaluate yourself.
• Have a general outline that you follow during this meeting.
• BE HONEST and MAKE NO EXCUSES!
• Speak sternly to yourself when you must, and take every opportunity to celebrate what you can! You’re not doing EVERYTHING wrong. You are undoubtedly doing a few things right. Point them out… and have a piece of cake to celebrate! 😉
• Talk to God during this time.
• Make some notes! (Remember, a fair idea on paper is better than an excellent idea that is forgotten… because you didn’t write it down!)

Well, that’s what I think. How about you? Do you evaluate yourself? Do you find self-evaluation to be helpful?

What ideas do you have to make this a more efficient practice?