A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".
Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.
Monday Mantra: Invest your time wisely
On yet another flight home a while back (clearly that's the only time I have to read these days..we'll get to that), I was reading an interview someone did with Drew Barrymore about how she disagrees with the idea that we can have it all when we try to, well, have it all: A career, a family, a business, abs of steel, so on and so forth. She wasn't necessarily disagreeing that people can achieve these things on some level, but what she was saying is that you can't juggle all of those balls of life perfectly with the hope of never letting any of them drop. Her point was that you have to choose wisely what you spend your time on because you won't have enough to equally go around the way you'd like it to.
In my mind there are negotiable and non-negotiable things in life. They are (in no particular order)...
Negotiable: TV, reading (see above), Internet shenanigans (Pinterest, Facebook, etc.), a perfectly manicured yard, awesome hair every day. That last part is mostly because even if I tried, it wouldn't happen.
Non-negotiable: Family, friends, my dog, sleep, health, flossing. I'm serious about that flossing bit, people. Floss saves lives.
How many people do you know that are frazzled to the core because they have set their own personal bar so high that not even a three time Olympic gold medalist could reach it? And then, because they never achieve whatever all of those things are they thought they could achieve, they run down their health/let one of those very important non-negotiable balls drop/push themselves to the point of misery? For the record, I'm holding my hand up because I know quite a few, including myself.
For example, I don't have kids right now but the thought of trying to maintain the schedule and life I have currently while raising children makes me panic and want to hide out until the children I don't have graduate from college. Which tells me that I agree with Drew...you can't do everything. You must make sacrifices and decide what's really important. Sleeping or staying up into the wee hours to catch up on work, clean the house, read a book? Being a working mother or being a stay at home mom (if your lifestyle and budget permit, of course)? Making home cooked meals for your family or buying your meals pre-made?
No one can tell you what is important to you or for you, only you can decide that. The point is that you do decide. That you do weight out the variables and make an actual decision, rather than trying to do it all for the sake of doing it all...putting in 10% here, 5% here, 17% here...so on and so forth. That is not a recipe for success. That is a recipe for an ulcer with an extra large order of stress and a side of chaos. Choose where you invest your time. Because really, when you get to the bottom of it all, where you choose to invest your time is where you are choosing to invest
the most important thing of all- yourself. Make sure you invest wisely.
Negotiable: TV, reading (see above), Internet shenanigans (Pinterest, Facebook, etc.), a perfectly manicured yard, awesome hair every day. That last part is mostly because even if I tried, it wouldn't happen.
Non-negotiable: Family, friends, my dog, sleep, health, flossing. I'm serious about that flossing bit, people. Floss saves lives.
How many people do you know that are frazzled to the core because they have set their own personal bar so high that not even a three time Olympic gold medalist could reach it? And then, because they never achieve whatever all of those things are they thought they could achieve, they run down their health/let one of those very important non-negotiable balls drop/push themselves to the point of misery? For the record, I'm holding my hand up because I know quite a few, including myself.
For example, I don't have kids right now but the thought of trying to maintain the schedule and life I have currently while raising children makes me panic and want to hide out until the children I don't have graduate from college. Which tells me that I agree with Drew...you can't do everything. You must make sacrifices and decide what's really important. Sleeping or staying up into the wee hours to catch up on work, clean the house, read a book? Being a working mother or being a stay at home mom (if your lifestyle and budget permit, of course)? Making home cooked meals for your family or buying your meals pre-made?
No one can tell you what is important to you or for you, only you can decide that. The point is that you do decide. That you do weight out the variables and make an actual decision, rather than trying to do it all for the sake of doing it all...putting in 10% here, 5% here, 17% here...so on and so forth. That is not a recipe for success. That is a recipe for an ulcer with an extra large order of stress and a side of chaos. Choose where you invest your time. Because really, when you get to the bottom of it all, where you choose to invest your time is where you are choosing to invest
the most important thing of all- yourself. Make sure you invest wisely.
And to reiterate once more, because I believe that this subject is quite possibly one of the most important in this day and age...
Remember: Your time on this earth is precious. Every. Single. Minute of it. Value that time and put effort into what truly matters and then - here's the hard part - LET GO OF EVERYTHING ELSE. No multitasking/sleep depriving/unrealistic schedule. There are things that are worth your time and there are things that aren't. Sort them out, decide, and then never, not ever let yourself feel bad for investing that precious time of yours into what really matters.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, some of my favorite demotivational posters.
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All the lovely and hilarious pictures (except for the first one that I found somewhere on Google) are brought to you by Despair.com.
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