The Evaluation - 3: Start Doing

Kim Levings
2 days ago
5 min read

The things that really matter, that you keep putting off

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that doesn’t come from doing too much.

It comes from doing a lot — and still feeling like something essential is missing.

You know the feeling. The schedule is full, the output is tangible, the people around you would say you’re doing well and are very productive. And yet there’s a quiet, persistent sense that the most important things — the things you were actually made for — keep getting shuffled to the bottom of the list. Not because you don’t value them. Because everything else got on there first.

That’s not a time management problem. It’s a priority problem. It’s also an intentions and choices issue. And it’s one that Jesus addressed with characteristic directness.

The Mary and Martha Moment

In Luke 10, Jesus visits the home of two sisters. Martha is busy — genuinely, usefully busy. She’s hosting, preparing, holding everything together. Mary, meanwhile, has sat down at Jesus’s feet to simply be present and listen.

Martha, understandably frustrated, asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. His response is one of the most quietly confronting things he says anywhere in the Gospels:

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.”

— Luke 10:41-42

Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say Martha’s work is wrong. He doesn’t dismiss the value of what she’s doing. He says Mary has chosen the better thing. And that framing — not wrong versus right, but good versus better — is precisely where most of us live.

Our “start doing” lists are rarely filled with bad things we’ve been avoiding. They’re filled with better things we’ve been deferring. The deeper conversation. The creative work. The spiritual practice. The relationship that deserves more than what’s left over at the end of the day. The vision we haven’t had the margin to think clearly about.

We’ve been doing the Martha work. And the Mary work keeps waiting.

Seek First — The Priority Principle

Jesus makes the same point even more directly in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This verse is often read as a promise about provision — and it is. But it’s equally a statement about sequencing. Seek first. Not eventually. Not when things calm down. Not after the urgent has been handled.

The principle is this: what gets your first and best energy signals what you actually value — regardless of what you say you value. Not your intentions. Not your goals document. Your calendar and your attention tell the true story.

Years ago when still consulting, I challenged an executive team to review the past month of their calendars and to put down a % assigned to the key priorities and core values they said mattered.

Your calendar and your bank statement are true reflections of what matters most in your life.

For many leaders, that story reveals something uncomfortable.

The strategy gets the first hour; reflection gets the leftover minutes.
The team gets structured attention; the marriage gets whatever energy remains at 7pm.
The business gets the sharpest thinking; personal growth gets the commute.

And personally — the things that would most restore and sustain us tend to be exactly the ones we treat as optional. Exercise. Prayer. Creative expression. Genuine community. Rest that is actually restful. We know these things matter. We just tend to avoid making them non-negotiable.

Starting to do them isn’t indulgence. It’s stewardship.

Recognize that there can be a sense of embarrassment around this. I mean, if you’re a C-level executive in a Fortune 500 company, are you concerned about what people will think if you admit to needing quiet time or exercise time at regular intervals in your schedule? If you’re in middle management, do you fear being allowed to leave on time on that monthly date night?

It's time that self care is viewed with respect, and life balance the new norm.

What Your Stress Diagnostic Is Telling You

If you’ve completed the Stress Diagnostic this month, turn your attention to the Positive Inactive zone — the things that energise you that you’ve quietly stopped doing, or never quite built into consistent practice.

This zone is the most instructive column in the entire framework, because it reveals not what’s broken, but what’s missing. And missing is different from broken. Missing means it’s still available. It just needs a decision.

That decision usually requires something harder than finding the time — it requires letting something else wait. It requires the trust that the world will not fall apart if you choose the better thing. It requires, in the most practical sense, the faith that “seek first” actually works.

If you're just catching up - DOWNLOAD THE STRESS DIAGNOSTIC HERE.

The Question Beneath the Question

Most people know what they need to start doing. That’s rarely the real problem.

The real question is why they haven’t. And the honest answer is usually one of these:

It requires saying no to something else. And that feels costly, selfish, or simply hard.
It exposes a gap between stated values and actual priorities. And that’s uncomfortable to sit with.
It requires trust. That slowing down won’t cause everything to unravel. That choosing the better thing is, in fact, better — even when the Martha voice is loud.

Starting is rarely about capability. It’s about courage and conviction.

This Week’s Reflection

Choose one thing from your Positive Inactive zone this week. Give it a time, a date, and if possible, an accountability partner. Not because the timing is perfect — it won’t be. But because the better thing has already waited long enough.

1. Where in your life or leadership are you currently seeing the most fruit — genuine results, real impact, meaningful connection?

2. If your calendar told the honest story of your priorities, what would it reveal?

3. What is your “Mary” thing — the better thing you keep sacrificing for the urgent thing?

4. What would you need to trust in enough to put it first?

Perhaps a bigger question - How can you find a place in a community that will support, challenge, and encourage you in your life? Who will understand your journey and hold you accountable?

💡We have an Exploration Session available for LeaderPrint. Because LeaderPrint isn't another leadership training program, it's a trusted community of like-minded leaders who disciple each other. 👉🏻Check it out at: www.kimlevings.com/invitation