Our time is a precious commodity that we can’t afford to waste. It
is a finite resource that is used up whether we like it or not. If we
don’t choose to spend it in a particular way, the world around us will
choose for us. WE CAN’T AFFORD TO LET THIS HAPPEN!
Here are 15 simple, yet essential ways that you can live your life
more deliberately and stop letting your destiny be decided for you.
1. Choose your work
This may sound overly simplified, but it is relevant none the less.
How many of you are doing what YOU want to be doing? There may be some
of you who are exactly where they want to be, but I suspect that many
are not. Whether you hate your job, like it but wish you were doing
____ or just don’t like your daily routine, it is up to you to actively
change your circumstances.
I think that many of us have been burned in the past when we
attempted to land our ‘dream job’. We might feel as though we’ve ‘given
it our all’ and just can’t do it. Well I’m here to tell you that if
you settle now, you will feel stuck and unsatisfied the rest of your
life. This is not to say that ‘if you don’t do ____ you will never be
happy’. Instead I am just sharing a truth of the human heart. We are
passionate beings that need to satisfy our visions of who we want to be
and if we settle for a version of ourselves that is below this standard,
we will always live in regret.
2. Stop Hanging out
2. Stop Hanging out
‘Free Time’ is a wonderful thing. The only problem is that it is not
actually free. One way or another, we had to earn it. So to let this
finite recourse just slip away is a terrible thing. I think it is
essential for all of us to have down time. Even time where we are just
watching the clouds go by. I would just like to encourage you to make
sure that the results of this time spent are positive. Make sure that
you are truly benefiting from it. Because if you find that you are just
wasting your time or ‘killing time’, then you seriously need to
re-think the way you relax.
3. Eat deliberately
Our diet has a tremendous effect on our health. Not just the ‘how
long we live’ kind of health, but, more importantly, how we feel every
hour of every day. So the next time you buy your food at the grocery
store, try to think about what kinds of foods will help promote good,
clean, consistent energy and all around health.
4. Actively help others
There’s no question that we, as human beings, should help one
another. This is a given. But if we aren’t actively doing so, we will
not have a choice in how we want to help. This is a common area where
our society doesn’t live deliberately. We just do our own thing and
then hope to be in the right mindset when a need comes our way. This is
often a cause for frustration.
The fact of the matter is: we are not always ready to help.
Maybe our health is bad or we’ve been overworked and just don’t have
the energy. Do yourself a favor and actively help others when YOU are
in your best condition. You will be more helpful to the receiving party
and will enjoy the process much more.
5. Give yourself an allowance
Just like our time, our money will just slip through our fingers if
we let it. Most people will pay their bills before they do anything
else. This is fine, but not the best way to go. Almost every financial
adviser you talk to will tell you to pay yourself first. If you don’t,
you may never truly get paid. One common argument to this idea is that
you may not have enough to pay your bills if you don’t pay them first.
This can be true, but is not as common as you may think.
Picture your money as a pizza with 3 slices. One slice is for
essential items like your bills, another is for savings (paying
yourself) and the last slice is for miscellaneous purchases. This
miscellaneous area is full of things that you may not even remember
buying. Things like eating out instead of eating in or buying that $5
cup of coffee once or twice a week. By the end of the month these
things add up and you will see that the money to pay yourself is usually
there, it’s just being wasted instead of invested.
6. Have mini tasks ready for unexpected downtime
Throughout the day we are presented with little bits of downtime. 10
minutes here, 15 minutes there. Not very much time on their own, but
noteworthy if added together. So instead of just ‘killing’ this time,
try to come up with a few small tasks that can be worked on when the
moment presents itself. If you do this, you will have found a great
tool to chip away at larger tasks, a little bit every day.
7. Play hot potato with your To-Do’s
One of my technology consulting clients uses my services to help him
to be more productive. One of his struggles is in trying to stay on top
of all his emails. He receives hundreds a week and always gets
behind. What I taught him was to treat every email as a hot potato.
Once it is passed to him he has to pass it back as quickly as possible
or he will get ‘burned’.
This analogy can be used in every area of productivity. It’s nothing
new, but is a great way to look at the tasks that come your way. All
too often we let things get backed up and then feel overwhelmed as we
try to play catch up. So instead of allowing this to happen, treat
every new ‘to-do’ as another hot potato that needs to be taken care of RIGHT NOW. The more you get into this habit, the less behind you’ll be and the more productive you’ll become.
8. Cut the fat
One of the greatest enemies of living deliberately is clutter. These
unnecessary objects in our lives prevent us from moving throughout our
lives with a quick, light efficiency. Simplify now and create the
necessary habits to stay streamlined. The lighter your load and the
less ‘stuff’ you have to take care of, the more time and energy you’ll
have to focus on the more important things in life.
9. Back up your data
This might sound like an ‘out of place’ tip, but this couldn’t be
further from the truth. We all have computers and most of us have data
on these computers that is quite important. And from my experience as a
tech, most of you aren’t backing up some, if not all, of that precious
data.
Since we are talking about not letting life happen TO you, I felt it
was very fitting to bring this up. Because once you’ve gone through one
instance where you’ve ‘lost it all’ in a hard drive failure, you will
know what I mean when I tell you that this is a completely preventable
mess to be in. There’s nothing more frustrating than losing your files
and knowing that you are the only one to blame. So don’t let this life
disaster happen to you. Keep your files backed up and sleep easy at
night.
10. Capture your memories
It’s widely known and accepted that life isn’t about the destination
but about the journey itself. So why do we rush through this time
without capturing the wonderful moments and memories that we encounter.
I would suggest that you make it a high priority to take many pictures
and keep many journals or your journey. 15 minutes a day is all it
takes to capture some of the key experiences that you can later remember
and share with future generations.
This is also important for our ability to remember where we came
from. Knowing where you’ve been will help you see how far you’ve come.
11. Get out of debt
Debt is slavery. You have to work off the money you owe or you’ll be
in trouble. Of course I’m not talking about your mortgage or even most
car payments. But taking out a loan so you can get a new ‘toy’ to play
with is a big NO NO. It’s not worth it. Just like clutter can cause
resistance to your attempts to make progress in your life, so too can
debt be a barrier to making the most out of your time and energy.
12. Physically push yourself
I could have said ‘Exercise’, but I don’t think this is accurate
enough. Many of us may walk or run every other day or so and this is
good. But I find that many of those same people aren’t really pushing
themselves to get stronger and healthier. It’s easy to get comfortable
in our exercise routines and stop breaking a sweat. We need to
consistently push our bodies past this point of comfort to continue to
reap the full benefits that come from exercise. And if you aren’t
getting any kind of workout, well, then, START. Exercise is one of the best fuels for our motivation. Without it we are putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage.
13. Never stop learning
One of my clients is a 90 year old writer who is sharp as a tack.
When I first met her I figured she was in her 70′s, but even then she
seemed to be no more than 50 years old in her mind. When I asked her
how she stayed so sharp she replied, “I never stopped writing.”
Our minds are muscles that need to be consistently worked out. Once we
stop challenging them, they will only grow weaker. Just like my
client, ‘never stop writing’.
14. Be a proactive sleeper
Sleep
affects every aspect of our being. Our minds and our bodies can either
thrive or struggle based on the amount and consistency of sleep we get
each night. So in light of this I find it amazing how many people make
sleep an afterthought in their lives. They go to bed ‘whenever’ and
don’t realize how much their actions affect how good that sleep really
is. But the fact is, everything from how much exercise we get each day
to what and when we eat our meals, has a tremendous affect on how well
we sleep. So make it a high priority to find a sleep routine that works
for you and stick with it. Your motivation and all around well being
depends on it!
15. Dream big with every intention of pursuing
People always say that children ‘have such a big imagination’, as if
adults do not. The fact is that you never lose your ability to imagine,
only your ability to believe the ‘impossible’. When you are a child
you can believe that going to the moon is possible. As an adult you
become aware of all that is required to accomplish such a feat and how
small your chances are of doing so. But here’s the question: Do people
go to the moon?
Now this is an extreme example, but I want to challenge you to not
let your ability to ‘be realistic’ stand in your way of reaching for the
stars. If everyone did this we would live in a much less amazing
world.
But this is only half of the equation. Notice I didn’t just say
‘Dream big’. I added the second part because, if left out, you will
just be doing what 99% of the rest of the world does. It is not
uncommon for someone to dream big, but rarely do they have any intention of forming a plan, putting in the time and making it a reality.
You can be different! You can be one of the few that
actually pursue your dreams with every intention of attaining them.
Whether it’s going to the moon or starting your own business, your
biggest limitation starts with you. You may not have total control over
your destiny, but if you’re not deliberately living your life, you are
just handing the keys over to someone else.
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