What’s your hurry?
“But Kim, I just don’t have enough time.”
I hear that a lot. I used to be the chief of that club…you know, the Not Enough Time club?
Then I realized a few things.
- I have as much time in a day as every other person on earth (24 hours).
- I actually waste A LOT of time doing useless stuff (like spending 3 hours on social media, or 2 hours trying to get a blog post perfect.)
- My priorities set my time, get my priorities straight and I will always have enough time to do what I want to.
- I choose HOW I use my time.
- What’s the hurry?
I had the belief that life was a race and that I had to get everything done BEFORE I could relax and be happy. In fact, until a few years ago, that song by Alabama, “I’m in a hurry,’ was my theme song.
“I rush and rush until life is no fun. All I really gotta do is live and die, but I’m in a hurry and don’t know why…”
Yep that was me.
Then I realized that my sense of urgency was from a place of fear. In fact, it was a HUGE limiting belief, that I had to ‘escape.’ I had to escape something I didn’t like, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to get away from it. Well that had the opposite effect, and then I beat myself up because I couldn’t get everything done. I was so busy ‘trying to get things done so I could live life’ that I wasn’t living life and it certainly wasn’t fun.
Then I looked closer and behind that limiting belief I saw fear.
Fear of missing out.
Fear of falling behind.
Fear of ‘not enough for me.’
And I realized that the person who sets the tone and pace of my life is ME. No one else. Not my coach. Not my spouse. Not my clients…ME.
And so I ask you NOT to do the same. Set a pace of life that fits you.
Don’t believe the hype that you will miss out on something and that you must hurry. If you feel a real calling to do something do, don’t get trapped in that fear ball either…but don’t do something soley for the reason that you *might* miss out.
There is more than enough.
There is an abundance of opportunity.
And you are just fine right as you are.
xo
IF you feel the calling, I would love to have you join me for my next free teleseminar, The 9 Faces of Self Sabotage: Mindset Mastery. It’s on July 19th and will be packed full of jewels on identifying the underlying beliefs and fears that keep us stuck. You can learn more or register at http://kimberlyenglot.com/masterycall.
How to Brazingly Set Priorities to Achieve Success in Business
Loved this thought and had to share it with you guys:
Decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage to pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically say ‘NO’ to all other things.
No idea where I got that quote. Maybe it’s someone famous. Maybe I got it from a movie or maybe I ‘divinely downloaded’ it from the Universe.
I do know that I had to share it and I definitely want to know what you think! Comment below with thoughts. Is this hard for you? Do you even know what your focus is on? Is this a selfish mindset? Don’t be afraid, share!
A New Perspective on Happiness
“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.”
So true! For my perfectionists and control-freaks out there (myself included), it’s important to remember this. Sometimes you can get so caught up in making sure everything looks perfect on the outside, that the inside (your spirit) shrivels up and dies!
It’s time to put you back on your priority list. I know it’s a mile long, but start with things that really mean a lot to you. Release the junk that you don’t want in your life anymore. Everything else you can start to intentionally sort into priority piles.
Over time, and with a bit of effort, you life won’t look perfect and you’ll be happier than ever.
Just a thought…
What do you think? Let me know.
What I learned from Maxx
Maxx Christmas 2006. Doesn't that look cozy?
This is an article I wrote for my newsletter this summer, just after getting back from a week in the woods with my family.
Nothing like a bit of time away from everything to add clarity and perspective to life. While I was away I had a lot of time to catch up on my reading and actually breathe! I was lying in the hammock thinking about life when my cat, Maxx, when breezing by me on the hunt for a particularly irritating squirrel. I got this light of inspiration at that moment:
Why read hundred of books and spend thousands of dollars “pursuing” happiness and success when you can learn it all from your pet?
Maxx is a perfect sample of what it means to be happy and have a great life and I want to share some of my insights with you for how I learned happiness and success from my cat.
1. Maxx is incredibly persistent. Have you ever tried to pry a cat away from a tree that a squirrel is hiding in? I have, and let me tell you that cat has a one track mind and isn’t letting you derail its mission!
2. Maxx take life as it comes. Yes, she might be unhappy when I stick her in the car kennel to go to the vet (or on a fairly long road trip), but after a loud meow and some crying she cut her losses and re-prioritizes (comfort above all), and goes to sleep. This leads me to the next point…
3. Maxx has her priorities straight! Food, sleep, chasing bugs, sleep, cuddles. That is what her day usually looks like, and she “tolerates” the odd disruption, but always does her best to refocus on one of her priorities afterward.
Kim and Maxx (both as "babies!")...seems like yesterday. This was 2004?
4. Maxx can be happy without effort. Even when a cuddle is “forced” on her, she can express her disatisfaction with you by flicking her tail, but also enjoy the moment by purring. (She would never want YOU to know that she is actually enjoying it, but I happen to be a cat mind-reader and I can tell. Ok, I lied about the mind-reading bit…)
5. Maxx has purr-fected “living in the moment”. Yes, all of the above points have been leading to this last one. Maxx lives moment-to-moment. She has no sense of time, she lives on a schedule of her instincts and what makes her happy. You would never see Maxx intentionally hurting herself or calling herself bad names. You never see her struggling with self-esteem issues. She realizes her life is great and she is going to enjoy it!
Bad jokes and puns aside, we can learn a lot from those around us…even when “those” include 4 legged furry creatures.
