How is life without excuses? I thought it was an interesting question so I tried it out for one week. This is what I experienced:
From the get go I realized that I used excuses for two main things in my life. For all the stuff I thought I should do but actually did not want to do and for the things that were unfamiliar, hard or scary to me. In both cases using excuses helped me to put them off indefinitely. The first category I took off my list. The second one I tackled.
This is what I did.
I very thoroughly sorted through my life’s priorities and goals. What was important to me and lit my fire and what was not, what was outdated and what was merely a good idea that I did not have the passion to act on, etc.
Once I had my priorities straight, I made a plan of action. I looked at the flow of my week, the vibration of the days (I know it sounds goofy, but I love this kind of stuff … Monday is influenced by the moon, which makes it a bit mellow, sensitive, etc. so I chose Monday for my personal holiday where I relax, ponder new ideas, connect with family and friends, etc.) and came up with a clearly defined weekly and daily schedule with specific tasks.
When making a schedule be aware of the flow and the rhythm of your life. Don’t try to force things a certain way. In my life the best time for getting things done is in the morning while my daughter is at school. Afternoons are more flexible, with some appointments, exercise and time for family.
After noticing that unfamiliar things got pushed to the back of my list, I put them first. Second came the tasks that were easy and took almost no focus or discipline to get done.
Another, very important observation I made this week was that there were thousands of distraction every day that kept me off track (and using excuses). Brian Tracey talks about this in detail on his new CD “Flight Plan”. He says that on a flight from Los Angeles to New York a plane is off course more than 95% of the time! The job of the pilot is to make constant course corrections. This is true for life, too. Once you know your destination, you will have to make adjustments. Factor this in and don’t get upset when it happens. Get to know your major distractions and deal with them. I noticed that I tend to make time for family over my own projects which in the end gets me frustrated. Be aware, make things work for you (and others) and course correct.
Here are the steps again.
First, be very, very clear about what you want. Get rid of the stuff that does not light your fire. Next, make a clear plan of action. Put your priorities in order of most important, second most important, etc. Put unfamiliar things first. Make a weekly and daily schedule to keep you on track.
And last, make sure to schedule in play time! One of the reasons I was using excuses in the first place was that I was tiring myself out by a lot of ‘doing’ and very little playing. Be kind to yourself. Put your aliveness first. Make having a good time a priority.
Have a wonderful week!
