Yesterday I decided to ‘check’ myself and concluded that I need to readjust my priorities, sharpen my focus, and change the way I use my time. Although I pray, meditate, and exercise every morning, this morning I was reminded of some of my own advice that I wasn’t using. Unconsciously I had been making excuses, and at the end of the day, I would found myself further away, rather than closer to my goals. I knew that it was time for a self-check when I looked around me and realized that I was becoming overwhelmed with clutter. Whenever my physical environment becomes cluttered, it is usually a result of mental clutter. My short list of things to do today involved decluttering my physical and mental environments.
Today I took time to shred, throw away, file, and declutter my environment. It is amazing how decluttering my surroundings also helps to declutter my mind. For years I designated 4:30am as my focus time for meditation, prayer, and exercise. This worked well for me when I had to be at work between 7:30 and 8:00am. Earlier or later starting hours tended to throw off my rhythm. Evening obligations, or just staying up late, also tended to make my morning focus time less effective. Whenever I do not meet my goals, I tend to waste a considerable amount of time and energy with the three amigos, would’ve, should’ve, and could’ve.
Well, for today, I changed my course by working on my short list. Today I refocused and revisited my raison d’être, or reason for being here, and did one small thing to move me closer to reaching that goal. Tonight I will make another short-list for tomorrow and remind myself that not just discipline, but consistency is also one of the keys to success.