The Dokimazō Filter: Approving What Is Excellent
Most leaders don't struggle because they're unfocused. They struggle because they're surrounded by legitimate, important things all competing for finite capacity. The Dokimazō Filter gives you three honest questions to cut through the noise and approve what is actually excellent in this season.
I heard something recently that I couldn't shake.
Kevin O'Leary was talking about Steve Jobs — specifically about how Jobs approached his time. Ruthlessly, intentionally, systematically. Every day he identified the three to five things that would actually move the needle. Everything else was noise. He ignored it without apology.
And honestly? Part of me respected it.
But then I sat with it a little longer.
Because Steve Jobs also died largely estranged from the people closest to him. A complicated relationship with his daughter. Friendships sacrificed on the altar of output. A legacy that is simultaneously one of the most impressive in modern business history — and a cautionary tale about what happens when prioritization is divorced from wisdom about what actually matters.
Ruthless focus is a tool. But a tool without wisdom about what deserves your focus can build an empire and empty a life at the same time.
That's the harder leadership question. Not just — how do I prioritize?
But — how do I know what's actually worth prioritizing?
Most leaders aren't struggling because they're lazy or unfocused. They're struggling because they're surrounded by legitimate, important things competing for finite capacity. Your team. Your family. Your responsibilities. Your growth. Your health. Your calling.
None of those are bad options. That's exactly what makes it hard.
Greg McKeown put it simply: "If you don't prioritize your life, someone else will."
The danger isn't always distraction. Sometimes the danger is letting the loudest thing — or the most visible thing — determine what gets your best.
Paul understood this tension. Writing to a church he loved — from a prison cell, no less — this is what he prayed over them:
"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent."
— Philippians 1:9-10 (ESV)
Approve what is excellent.
The Greek word behind approve is dokimazō — a refiner's term. It described the process of testing metal to determine its genuine worth. Not just identifying what's good. Examining what's genuinely excellent — worthy of this season, this capacity, this moment.
Discernment isn't instinct. It's a developed capacity. And it's worth praying for.
So how do you actually do it? How do you stand in the middle of a full life — full calendar, full inbox, full responsibility — with five legitimate things pulling at you simultaneously, and actually decipher what's important and what's just noise?
It's not a clean process. There's no spreadsheet that does this for you. Discernment happens in the tension, not around it. But there are questions worth asking that cut through the noise — not perfectly, but honestly. And honest examination is where clarity usually begins.
Three questions worth sitting with:
What cannot move without real consequence?
Some things, if neglected, don't just pause — they break. These are load-bearing. They don't get set down.
What is important but can survive an intentional pause?
Not everything significant is immediately urgent. Some things are genuinely valuable but seasonally flexible. The operative word is intentional — there's a difference between setting something down with care and just letting it fall.
What am I treating as urgent that isn't actually excellent?
This is the hardest one. Some things feel pressing because they're loud — not because they're worthy. The dokimazōquestion is honest: does this actually hold up under examination? Is it excellent — or just noisy?
Jobs prioritized brilliantly. But the filter he used was almost exclusively output. What will move the product forward. What will change the industry.
The filter Paul prays for is different. It accounts for the whole life — love, relationships, legacy that outlasts a product cycle. It asks not just what moves the needle but what is genuinely excellent when you examine it honestly.
That's the leader worth becoming. Not just ruthlessly focused — but wisely discerning.
Knowing what season you're in. Knowing what's load-bearing. Approving what is actually excellent — and having the clarity and courage to let the rest wait.
Start Strong. Lead Well.