This quote really resonated with me. I think back on the last 10 years of my life and there are big voids and gaps in my memory. There is an entire year that, even if my life depended on it, I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened to me…good or bad.
I was working 80 hour weeks, thinking that by driving myself hard and hustling, I was accomplishing a lot and I would be more successful. I didn’t make time for friends, family, exercise or fun. I reasoned that I would have time for all that “once I made it”, “once I hit the top”, “once I made enough money”. But it didn’t matter what I did, there would always be another “Once I”…. Until my body, mind and soul said “ENOUGH! And I burned out. I mean literally burned out. I couldn’t get out of bed even to feed myself. I was exhausted to the point where I couldn’t think, speak, sleep and every muscle in my body ached.
When we are constantly rushing or planning the next thing “to do” we are not truly enjoying our lives and living in the moment. We don’t always have to be racing against the clock. Only by making space for what really matters, can we appreciate and value who and what’s going on right in front of us. And the only way we can do this and to savor and build memories is to slow down. Here are a few things that I have implemented into my life to ensure that I don’t lose any more “years” of my life.
1.Be Mindful of Your Breath & Surroundings – Close your eyes and focus on each inhale and exhale. Inhale through your nose for a count of 4 and then slowly blow the air out through your mouth. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you find your shoulders relaxing down from your ears. Too often when we are rushing to get to that next thing, we miss what is right in front of us. Take 5 minutes just to look around. Play a game of eye spy with yourself. It always amazes me how this causes me to pause in everything I do.
2. Turn Off Your Device – Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling on your phone and then before you know it an hour has gone by? Having information at our fingertips, 24/7 isn’t doing anything for our quality of life and for many, they are passing their days in a device laden fog. Turn your device on airplane mode, put it down, and only pick it up at scheduled times of the day.
3. Prioritize Your To-Do List – Do a brain dump of all the things you need to do including your own self care. Is there anything on the list that doesn’t need your attention immediately? If so, scratch it off! (don’t even think of scratching off your self care, that stays at the top of the list every day) Can any tasks piggyback off of each other to make you more efficient? Lump them together. Now take the top 3 and focus on them. The rest don’t matter. This is so important and will help you live your best life.
4. Accept Your Limitations – I’ll take progress over perfection any day. It’s unrealistic to think that you can get it all done everyday. Maybe it’s this impractical view of your time that is affecting what you do get done. And when you don’t get things accomplished, if you are like most, you will end up beating yourself up. This is so unproductive! Life gets in the way. Show yourself some grace. Sometimes you won’t get it all done and that’s okay. Tomorrow is another day.
5. Learn To Say NO – Do you find yourself saying yes to things when every ounce of your being is screaming NOOOOO! Your body will let you know, and it will show up as tension and aches, pains.and illness. Your time is priceless. Saying no doesn’t make you selfish or a bad person. Don’t waste your precious time on things that don’t feed your soul.
So in this day and age where celebrities and social media influencers preach “Give all or nothing” and “no pain, no gain” when it comes to success, the real leaders and successful entrepreneurs of today preach that slowing down actually sets you up for success.
Slowing things down is the difference between success or failure and making the grade or burning out.
