Never underestimate the power of focus and single minded determination. When you put your goals in writing and really intentionally spend your day, you not only honour yourself but you begin to change.
Things start to get done. You start to feel more confident. You begin to have more energy for the task at hand and as a consequence your very health and quality of life improve dramatically. Surround yourself with inspiring people and the process takes on even more power.
When you create your goals and priorities, take time to dream on them. Write an initial list of what you think you should be doing or where you currently invest your time and energy. Do these areas of focus give you energy or take it away? Do your daily activities bring you closer to where you want to be or are they a distraction and time wasters?
If you removed all distraction from your day would you have enough attention to work on what you love?
Priorities are so important and yet we often do not stop to create them or we let other people create them for us.
Sometimes we think we will wait for our life purpose to find us and it never seems to come or alternatively we have a strong life purpose but are too overwhelmed to start working towards it.
In both circumstances we become emotionally crippled, lacking in energy and consistent motivation.
We find it easier to get sick, give up or trudge on through life in an area of work or activity that doesn’t serve us so that we don’t have to admit that we are afraid.
Well it’s time to get back to basics. A life purpose doesn’t actually have to be for life. Did you ever consider that you can start with a ‘right now purpose’?
This is a set of priorities that you can review every few months to help keep you focused.
Try setting your own priorities in the areas of work, rest, play and relationships.
Consider what you want your work to look like and what you would like to achieve.
Consider the ways you rest, recharge, relax and unwind.
Do you actually rest?
For many of us this might surprise us that the activities we think are restful and relaxing are actually winding us up. See if you can limit your rest list to activities that are genuinely restful and recharging for you.
Play is also an area where we either tend to do too much or too little. How do you balance your playtime? These are the areas where you might expend a lot of energy but it should also be giving a lot of energy and satisfaction back.
Relationships are interwoven between work, play and rest and it helps to have an intention as to what kind of relationships you are invested in or would like to attract.
Frustration can be greatly minimised if your relationships are sensitive to your priorities. For example, it is difficult to work if you are surrounded by people in rest or play mode and it is difficult to rest when others expect you to play or work. By creating clear boundaries and priorities in your head you can enjoy all of these areas in balance and you will begin to feel like you are thriving.
So make plans today to live with intention and to create a balance between work, rest and play and to enjoy all of the relationships you have been blessed with.