Tag: motivation

Fresh Starts and Old Shoes

When it comes to our fresh start I know that many of us envision something better. We may not be able to get there right away and we may feel overwhelmed by all the steps that we think that we need to take it. It’s never been easy to try to move in a direction towards your future when your buried in layers of apprehension, doubt, and uncertainty.

What we can recognize is that there are some things that can help us. For starters, a single step in a different direction is still a single step. The intention has been set. You may still have a long way to go, but you have started the journey. The next thing that can help us is to realize that incremental progress is undefeated. Simply put, I believe this means that that single step can lead to another step and that second step will lead to a third and in making this striving we can realize that it’s all progress. The last thing I would like to cover is that it is very tough to see ourselves somewhere else when we’re currently staying in the same environment. It’s been said that an environmental change is one of the top ways we can turn work to things around. I realize this is hard. It has been hard for me as well. However, it’s tough to see yourself somewhere else when you’re unwilling to be open to somewhere else. Florida sounds amazing during an Ohio winter. Why is that? In general there is a reason that a vacation has such an appeal when your day-to-day life is uneventful or not what you want it to be.

What if you’re every day life could feel more like a vacation? What if a vacation could feel less like an escape? Seeking a fresh start can feel overwhelming. Taking the steps towards a fresh start takes self reflection, courage, and determination. Fresh starts and old shoes don’t mix well. 

Productivity with our time

I want to focus on increasing my productivity. I look for ways to set goals and work towards completing them. Daily goals to keep me accountable, and longer goals to keep me striving. I have gotten so used to chasing goals for years I seem to get bored when I don’t have any. However, even with goals I can easily fall into a drift mode where I begin to get busy with things that aren’t productive. I think it’s an important distinction to make between movement and achievement. Don’t mistake movement for achievement and give careful consideration to your time.

I am not suggesting that we should always be productive and not have any down time or leisure time. I am looking at those times when we intend to be productive but can’t get going, or fall off after a while. Being busy doesn’t always mean being productive. I think I first heard about this when someone said to be cautious of “majoring in minor things” with our time. This had me thinking about the difference between occupying our time and maximizing our time. You can wake up one day and realize that the same goals are still sitting there for a long time because you just got too busy or have been majoring in those minor things!

It’s easy to assume that because we’re busy we are accomplishing much. I recently discovered the concept of seeking momentum. We can lay out short term goals, long term goals and even have “SMART” goals. However, we need to start somewhere and those first steps are crucial in establishing direction and starting that momentum. When you don’t know where to start pick something and get that momentum going. When goals feel too big just get started with something related to your goals. Break them down into smaller steps so you can lean into the momentum. Here is to majoring in more major things while moving to maximize time and productivity!