So the last few weeks have been bananas – in a really good way. I have been busy with lots of places to be and lots of things to do. There have been work shops and seminars, Eat By Design Coaching stuff, CrossFit coaching stuff, Chiropractic stuff and even a tiny bit of social life thrown in the mix.
I am sure that I could manage my time better. This is an ongoing challenge for me. Even still, there seems to have been a lot accomplished in a short period of time and I am very excited about it.
One take home lesson from the last month or so:
There is never enough time to do everything.
Brian Tracy has a great line. Yeah, I know, I bring this dude up a lot. But he is smart and successful, so I hang onto the things that he says and writes.
Do first things first and second things not at all.
If I look at all of the things that I have done and all of the colourful boxes stacked on each other in my iCalendar I can honestly say that I have really stuck to doing high value activities.
In fact, being this busy and analyzing the things that I have done, has helped me to get clear on my values.
Even when feeling the pressure of looming deadlines, people waiting for me to finish projects and the ever growing to-do list, I still: trained a minimum of four times a week, ate By Design, got my spine checked, honored my weekly date night with my boyfriend (and was present and not on my laptop or cell phone – much), had my weekly accountability group call, read and listened to at least 1 podcast every week. Plus my regular adjusting hours, writing this blog, Eat By Design coaching meetings and calls, CrossFit coaching and a variety of other work related activities.
I am not trying to say, “Oh look at me and how busy I am.” I know that everyone is busy. I genuinely do not know how people can have busy careers and raise children at the same time. My co-dependant responsibility capacity maxes out at the level cat. What I am trying to say is that you can probably tell me, based on those activities, what my highest values are.
- Health
- Career
- Companionship/Loving Relationships
- Education and Self Improvement
Also, as busy and hectic as I am feeling, I am happy.
Compared to other times in my life when I have felt insanely busy and felt extremely unhappy.
The difference is that I am doing activities that are in line with my highest values.
The misery most people feel from busy day-to-day living stems from having jobs or routinely doing tasks that are not in integrity with their values.
If you feel so busy that you are not taking care of your body, are not spending time with people you love, or not growing as a person – either you do not care about these things or you are living out of integrity.
Make the things that you value the “first things” and everything else “second things.”
Once you identify how you can realign your actions with your values, your life will be much happier.
What about you? Are your actions and values aligned?