Have you ever wondered where your day went? Are you able to stay focused and are you nailing your key 20% and moving your life at lightning speed forward? Or do you fall into being the victim and repeating what you do day in and day out accepting the same results, over and over?
Recently, I challenged myself to make a detailed, itemized account at how I spend my week. I included pretty much everything – how long I took to get out the door in the AM, my office activities, even how long I sleep. By doing this I was able to match up my weekly goals with my accomplishments and then analyze just how much time, I actually spent in my key activities. I accomplish my top five activities and I stay laser focused on my goals.
One of my goals is to have a more balanced life. I want to experience on a regular basis what it’s like to enjoy my gardens, to read a great book, to sit and watch the river on our new decks, to have a relaxing dinner with friends, to wake up naturally in the AM after a full night’s sleep. Over the past months I take time to practice the art of relaxation. However, when you look at my daytimer - there is rarely more than fifteen minutes that isn’t accounted for. I have still yet to master, the art of goofing off for a whole day.
My #1 goal is to make a larger impact in a shorter span of time. By knowing how I spend my time – helps me understand my beliefs around certain activities and what my subconscious is programmed to create. If I believe I can – I will. The secret is to see things in a way that will empower me towards achieving what I want. Reflecting, how I spend my day vs how I’d prefer to spend my day shows me the limitations in my thought patterns. The journey from my Point A to Point B is really quite simple just not overly easy (or sometimes direct). . . as of yet. However, the clearer my intention, the faster the results will come.
Sometimes, I forget that this is earth school and I have a mission to accomplish within the period I am here. Instead of staying on the true course, I temporarily get side tracked and involved in drama that's around me. I allow myself to become distracted and I find myself on someone else’s path. In most cases, if I stayed true to my own path and off theirs I would have more to offer.
Opportunities are in abundance around us.Each time I say yes to any opportunity. I am saying no to a different opportunity. Taking stock of how we spend our days, allows us to strategize and make choices allowing us to reach our goals, sooner.
Training my mind set to keep moving forward, in the predictable pattern of an accountable individual, can be very enlightening. There is no shortcut, and no grey area to accountability. Either you are accountable or not. Reality shows up – how I respond will depend on my mind set. Being accountable is a choice . . . so is being a victim.
To be accountable I begin by figuring out what the situation is – without attaching emotion – I seek clarity. I then “own it” and get focused on the outcome, I wish to achieve. I look at my options – check out models, systems, strategies – I think in possibilities. I create an action plan and move forward.
When I choose to be a victim, I fight reality, denying it every step of the way. I put the blame on someone or something else. I make up excuses and deflect and eventually resign myself to accepting the status quo. The length of time I perpetuate victim behaviors, determines how long I stay stuck. Some people will spend their whole life as a victim while others will shift. The only way through is to let go and own your part. Sometimes letting go, is the longest journey that a person will ever take.
Whenever I find myself moving towards victim behavior I pull out my gratitude journal and I read out loud all 360 things that I am grateful for. It doesn’t take long for my mind set to shift. Once that happens, accountability rushes in and I move forward.
I’d like to end this thought with a poem from Dr. Heartstill Wilson:
This is the beginning of a new day.
I have been given this day to use as I will.
I can waste it, or use it.
I can make it a day long to be remembered for its joy,
its beauty and its achievements,
or it can be filled with pettiness.
What I do today is important because
I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever,
but I shall hold something which I have traded for it.
It may be no more than a memory,
but if it is a worthy one I shall not regret the price.
I want it to be gain not loss,
good not evil, success not failure;
in order that I shall not regret the price
that I have paid for it.
Have a powerful week!
Deb
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