Do you ever wake up and already wish you had more hours in the day? Imaging more hours to sleep, more hours to play. Each day we’re given this beautiful gift of 24 hours to fill in any way that we choose. Like many of us, I always fill mine to the point of overflow.
Many of us want to know how to make more hours and how to leave the rat race behind. For me, it’s a matter of priorities. If I look at where I’m spending my time, there are always things on the list that don’t bring me joy. Personally, that would be taxes, accounting and the little details.
Many of us as entrepreneurs follow our passion only to find that we’re caught up in more than we bargained for. Some got into business to provide a service, only to find that they’re now an administrator with little time to actually do the passion- the reason behind the business in the first place!
But one of the great things about life is that those things that are “work” for me, are a joy for others. The secret is in knowing your priorities and knowing what you can say “YES!” to.
What I mean by that is this… What fills your heart with such joy and excitement that you just can’t wait to do it? What would you do just for the sheer joy of it, even if you didn’t get paid? It is really quite simple- Just go do that!
Stay away from the energy drains which always turn into time wasters. Time is devoured when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and those precious moments are gone- never to return. Then lack of time becomes an even greater problem and the cycle continues and accelerates, like getting sucked deeper and deeper into quick sand.
We need to change our habits that have created the problem and break the cycle.
Today I’m choosing to eliminate the things in my life that don’t bring me joy. It’s not selfish to do only the things that make you happy- it’s just plain smart! I actually believe it’s selfish NOT TO do the things you love.
No one benefits by your being miserable and playing small in the world. Today I’m consciously reviewing and focusing on only the things I like and walking away from those that don’t serve me. The result? More time. More joy. More things I can say “YES!” to.
Let go of the story of what you should/shouldn’t do, the old habits and concepts that got you to this point of overload in the first place, and you’ll discover a newfound gift, called time. And usually when you find time, you’ll also find it’s hanging out with one of its best friends, called joy. 🙂
Today, may you have the courage to walk away from those things that no longer serve you. May you create the time to do the things that bring you the greatest joy and celebrate the things to which you can say “YES”!
However, like my father said when I was a kid, “The lawn ain’t gonna mow itself.”
Hi RIck,
I agree with your father. However as your father showed by example, if he didn’t enjoy mowing the lawn, he didn’t have to do it. There’s always a kid down the street that is just dying to mow the lawn! (or a son that had it as a chore because dad didn’t choose to do it!
My point is that if you love it, do it. If you don’t, be so good at what you love that you live in the abundance of life, and you’re able to hire someone who does love to do what you don’t. When you follow your bliss you’re never on the wrong path.
Hugs,
Gail
Thankyou for tweeting us about this great blog post. I wrote an article earlier in the week about a similar thing, though it was in relation to a travel experience. While my hubby and I were on holiday in Samoa he pointed out to me that in this tiny island eating and walking is considered rude. At first I was suprised that such a small issue was even an issue, after all, in our fast moving world we are taught to multitask, time is of the essense you know, we must do everyting in warp speed and never put off till tomorrow what we can do today. Naturally eating on the run is for us, just a normal part of life. It took a few days for me to get used to this sitting down to eat concept, but once I did I came to realise that taking our time to enjoy such simple pleasures is what makes for a happy life indeed.
In Samoa you see, food is a blessing, one that we sit down to partake of in gratitude for what we have. To walk around chomping away shows no gratitude and no respect for those around you. But to me it was a reminder that time should not be of the essence, multitasking was the bane of western existence and why should I do today what I could put off till tomorrow? I had discovered that through the simple and customary practice of showing respect in Samoa, life would be exactly as it should be, with a time and place for everything and everyone.
Applying the same approach back here in the west is easier said than done though, so we need to remind ourselves once in a while to slow down and make time for ourselves and as you said change the habbits that are creating the problem…pretty hard with a boss breathing down your neck, but still achievable if the desire to live a richer life is within you.
Thanks for the reminder Gail 🙂