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Staying focused on your goals

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We All Do It

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We all do it, but it is not sustainable. When we have a project, event to plan, a change in life, or any big task, we push ourselves and focus on that task to the detriment of everything else. Sleep? Who needs sleep? Exercise? Definitely no time for that! Cook? Isn’t that what fast food is for? The weekend tasks get pushed aside. Our house gets messy. Laundry piles up. Our yard looks like an abandoned lot. We all do it, but we know it’s not sustainable. Something has to give.

This past weekend, I sent draft number ten of Finding Joy in the West to my editor. When I sent draft nine to her before my birthday in June, I honestly thought it was almost complete. I figured she would make a few suggestions like “italicize this and capitalize that” and it would be ready for publication. Oh, how naïve! She sent it back to me on August 1st with what felt like a thousand suggestions and clarification questions.

For seventy days I stressed over details in my manuscript big and small. To have more time for revisions, I pushed aside more and more as the days turned into weeks. Over the last two weeks I rode my bike three times rather than the scheduled twelve. I quit reading before bed, stopped visiting friends, drastically reduced texts and calls, avoided social media, and let email and other things pile up.

Back in 2013 my focus word for the year was balance (see One Word Can Change the World). Though I have tried to add that word to my world for over a decade now, clearly, I have not embraced it to its full extent. This year I chose to focus on getting Finding Joy in the West published. Because I do not always know how much is involved in achieving a goal like writing a book, my world gets out of balance from time to time. I know your world does too. Sometimes it seems that’s just how life goes. But the question is, “what are we going to do about it?”

Unfortunately for you I have no answers. All I have is questions­­­­­­­­—­­­­­­­questions only you can answer. Is what you are doing important enough to put everything else aside? Is it really your big rock (see Focusing on the Big Rocks) and if so, is that in keeping with your personal values? Does it have to be done in the time frame you have given it? Can you cut some corners and call it “good enough?”

Sometimes, like farmers, we must push hard when it’s time to plant or harvest. However, even farmers cannot harvest twelve months out of the year. They complete tasks in the off season to make the harvest go as smoothly as possible. If this is your off-season, what can you do to prepare for your harvest? You may be more driven than most, but even superman has his kryptonite. We must schedule some downtime. Yes, we have to stay focused, but we also need to stay balanced.

Determine what is important, really important and focus on that, but also find that balance. Whether you take an hour to reenergize at the beginning or end of each day, take a day at the end of each week, a week at the end of each quarter, a month at the end of each year, or some combination of all of those, find something that works for you. Find a plan that is sustainable and stick to it. You know you will feel better, and you will have more to give in the long haul. When you find that balance, or if you have already found that balance, let us know what it is for you. Please email me or comment below with your sustainable plan.

Then we can say, “We all do it, and it is sustainable!”

Sunrise at Outdoor Resorts Beach

Eternal Hope

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As I watched the sunrise on the beach this Easter morning, the rising of the Son and the story of the empty tomb gave way to the concept of new beginnings. March 31 is the 91st day of the year and marks the end of the first quarter of 2024. It’s also the day many of my new snow-bird friends, including Ray, are heading home refreshed and ready to start anew. Some think of Easter as the beginning of spring, which spurs a fresh outlook on life—new hope.

 Looking back, are you where you had hoped you would be three months ago? In my New Year’s post, One Word, I encouraged you to pick one word to focus on for the year. If you picked a word for 2024, today is the time to reflect. I’ve also mentioned setting goals in the areas of career, finance, relationships, health, and fun, as suggested by Jon Acuff. April 1st marks the day to review or renew your goals, promises to yourself and others. This day is a chance to take pride in your accomplishments and commit to staying the course, or an opportunity to start again. In March Madness terms, it’s the end of the first quarter. The score at the end of the first quarter or even the half may or may not reflect the final score. There is always hope that one team can turn it around or the other can keep the streak going.

 In the Starters Day blog I posted on MLK Day, I encouraged you to either keep going or to start again. If your word was “organize,” and you planned to clean out the closets, drawers, and garage, but life has gotten in the way, it’s not too late. You can still get it done in the remaining nine months. Hoping to lose weight and it seems you’ve found a few extra pounds? Start again. If your goal in January was to read through the Bible in 2024, you should be through the first five books of the Old Testament and the first four books of the New Testament (or the equivalent). Not finished with Genesis and Mathew? You can resolve to double up on your reading, or more realistically, maybe you change the one-year goal to a two-year goal. If your aim is to run a Marathon on Thanksgiving Day, and you aren’t running a 5K yet, does that mean you quit? By no means! You can always adjust your training plan. April 1st is the day to reevaluate your goals, not quit them. Don’t quit. Never quit if it is a legitimate goal.

Entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, taught that “everything affects everything.” Successful people start by doing something, and it’s best to start the minute we read or hear about a new idea. If we wait until tomorrow or next week, the passion may no longer be there. 

Jim would say one positive habit affects other aspects of our lives. Get your health in check and your relationships improve. When your relationships improve, your business grows. When your business grows, you have more money to give away. Giving makes your heart feel good. And when your heart feels good, there is no telling what you can accomplish. 

So, whether you picked a focus word for the year, or set goals in five areas like Jon Acuff suggests, know that everything you do connects with everything you do. Whether you have been consistently plugging away since the first of the year or have allowed distractions to get in your way like me (i.e., pool volleyball, cornhole, and sunset chats) make today a new day. Focus on something as small as eating one apple a day, or as big as writing about riding your bike in all 50 states, but let’s stay focused together.

Everything you do matters. Won’t it be exciting to see where our consistent steps get us by day 183 and then again on New Year’s Eve, 2024? May we all have hope for the future as we reflect on our past. It’s not too late. It’s just the end of the first quarter. Let’s keep the hope going together.

I’d love to hear how things are going for you. Please email me or comment below.