Recently I have been busy. When I say busy – I mean insanely active. I spent part of last week on the road and it is always nice to be back home. All the travel I’ve been doing lately has me thinking about choice and time management. Of course, those are very big issues so I only want to touch on them briefly this week and in the coming weeks I will be going into the issues of balance and values deeper.
It is important to have an understanding of your life; your goals, your personal vision and the plan you wish to execute in order to not feel overwhelmed with life. It happens to all of us. We say “yes” to things (not always because we can’t say “no”) but because we are passionate about what we are saying yes to.
But the important thing when making those choices is to not only look at the issue at hand but also how this decision impacts everything else in your life. Think of your life as a machine. You wouldn’t buy a new computer and not know why you are buying that particular model. The same thing with cars or clothes or colleges. Especially with big-ticket purchases we do a tremendous amount of research to make sure our choice is the right one. People who are resonating at a higher level of consciousness knows why they are making the choices that they make, and that there is always a choice.
Now, think of your life as one giant machine. You choose how much energy it spends on each and every task in life. So now, how do you go about making the right choices?
First, I believe you need to understand what your values are. Those values will determine the areas you should spend the most amount of time and energy. For me, I love spending time with my partner and our dog out in the country. But I also tremendously love my work. I am always checking myself to ensure my life is balanced like I need it to be.
Secondly, our bodies and our lives have a finite amount of time and energy. Going back to my first point, you have to know what your values are in order to determine where that time should be spent. You may enjoy something or be passionate about a group you’re volunteering for, but it is at the cost of other things in life, a choice must be made. You either have to change or modify the task or rethink or reconsider your values. Question whether what you think is a value to you is really yours or is it what you think it should be, or what someone else told you it should be.
Finally, you know when you are overwhelmed or overworked. It takes a strong person to admit it, but once you do, it sets you free to correct the problem. More importantly, you must give yourself permission to relax and enjoy the life you have.
Take some time this week and reflect on your life and the values you have. Are your actions and decisions meshing with your values?
(flickr photo via kozumel)
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