Constant, beautiful, simple reminders

I have a few post it notes on my computer screen,
They are constant, beautiful, simple reminders for me.

The one I’d like to share with you today is a little green post it note with the words ‘Is this going to lead me towards my desired goal’?

Now I’m sure many can relate to how easy it is to get distracted, to follow the shiny objects, to get stuck in procrastination, take detours & spend our valuable time & energy on pointless activities.

Now this is not intended to sound like we have to be so rigid & so focused that there is no time for fun or mucking around, because it couldn’t be further from the truth. Who doesn’t love to have a little internet surf. In particular I love looking around Pinterest for lots of things from quotes & inspiration to shabby chic decorating & styling ideas. But I have set times I do that & I allow myself about 15-30 minutes max to leisurely scroll through with not a care in the world.
I also switch off most days for an hour for a lunch break where I might watch an episode of one of my favourite shows, but just one & I’m back into focusing on my work.

As for the shiny objects, oh boy was I good at this one awhile back. Imagine your checking your emails or newsfeed & everything catches your attention; webinar ‘how to’, video explaining how to do that, the latest teachers, fads & eye catching images got me (all PD related) but I’d find myself signing up for this, that, the other & everything in between. Not even capable to possibly watch or fully commit to half of them. Till I decided on 3 main teachers & mentors I would follow.

I trained myself to not be distracted anymore & only check in, sign up & peruse the 3 I choose. You see it can get very confusing in the business world to follow a stack of different people & learn how you should, could, ought, to do one particular thing a million different ways. I’m all for variety & checking new things out but the shiny object syndrome (which catches a lot of us) is far from productive & honestly takes you further off your path by distracting you, by giving you way too many things to think about, explore, learn, let alone trying to master any of them.

So back to my little post it, I see it everyday & it reminds me to stay focused. It reminds me to check in & ask “Is what I’m about to do actually positive, productive & leading me closer to my goal?”.

This can apply to the majority of us whether we’re in business or not. We are all here to learn & to grow. We are all here on our own personal development, self discovery journey. We all have dreams and goals, personal & professional. We could all use more discipline in what we focus on, what we give our energy too & how we spend our time - if we want to get results.

Out of all of these time is the one thing we can never get back. And as I’ve said before regret is one thing you should never have to look back on. How painful it is to have such a beautiful desire & dream but never see it fulfilled knowing we could have done so much better. I’ve heard more times than I can count, if only I’d tried harder, if only I’d stuck to my workouts, if only I’d invested more time with my partner, my kids, if only...

This is a beautiful reminder that we never have to experience that. We can get in, get it done by staying focused.

So I encourage you to;

 - Think about how important your goal is,

 - Think about why it became your goal in the first place. What does it mean to you, your life & your families lives.

 - Think about how you spend your time,

 - Think about what activities will lead you closer to your goal, dream, desire.

Ofcourse I’ll add that we must always allow time for play, for spontaneity, for fun, for relaxing, for kicking back & on the odd occasion we do feel we’ve slackened off, not beat ourselves up if we have a day where we’ve spent hours in front of the Tele or had a beautiful, big sleep in. Because we need that to.

What system do you have in place to keep you focused, structured, so that everyday in some way you are giving your time & energy to what’s really important to you.

Love Karen 
The Love the Life You Live Coach, Counsellor, Author

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