Every time we make a choice, that choice gives us an inkling of what is most important to us at that particular moment (whether we actually feel that way or not!) As I am approaching another birthday and the end of another year of my life, I’ve really been evaluating how I spend my time. Am I passively spending my time or am I present and living my life with discipline in a way of fulfilling my goals, dreams, and what is the most important to me?
How do you want to spend your time? How do we choose what to do? Just as important, how do we choose what NOT to do? Obviously there are things throughout our day we cannot control, but how about those precious moments we can?
How can you live with more intention?
- Visualize Your Dreams and Goals. Sit down with a pen and paper and for 5-10 minutes write down where you want to be by the end of the year, 5 years, 10 years. What do you love to do? Where do you want to go? Be as specific as you can! Don’t just write down, “I want to travel.” Where do you want to travel to? What haven’t you accomplished yet that you hope to? What will be the most important when you are at the end of your life and look back. Do you want your children and grandchildren to say, “Mom didn’t have time to play and read, but she spent lots of time of Pinterest and Facebook?” Recently one of my mentors was talking about parenting and told me, “Our examples far outlast our achievement.” Yikes! Are my kids going to remember me yelling at the to clean up their messes, hurry up for the next activity, or to complete their homework? Or will they remember me reading them their favorite book, or coloring with them, or listening to them play their instruments? Remember, your goals and purpose change as your life changes and this list is yours. Don’t feel the need to compare it to others, we are all unique individuals in our own season of life, and that is what makes life so beautiful!
- Assess Your Current Situation. Is there one thing you can eliminate from your schedule to give you some extra time to work on a dream or goal from the list above? I found an easy change for myself. I needed to schedule time for Pinterest. I LOVE Pinterest. I can spend hours on that site finding new projects to pursue, blog posts to read, recipes I want to make, and neglect other priorities that are far more important to me.
- Implement. So now what? Start with one priority to implement into your routine or eliminate a non-priority. I found a way to be still be able to browse Pinterest at the same time as I’m focusing on a much higher priority which is my husband. I frequently ride around with Jason in our truck when he is checking cows, pivots, or other farm related chores. This is actually one of the best ways for us to spend time together and also keeps me in the loop of what he is doing with the farm. On these little “farm trips” there are many short periods of time when he is out of the truck doing what he needs to do (tagging a baby calf, checking oil in the pivot, etc). This is when I have my “Pinterest Time”. Usually Jason’s chore last anywhere from 5-15 minutes. It works well for me because one of my highest priorities is spending time with my husband and yet I can work in some personal fun time for me where I would otherwise just be waiting. When he gets back in the truck, I put Pinterest away. I no longer feel guilty about wasting time at home when I should or want to be working on something else. (And if you follow me on Pinterest, you will notice that when I pin things, there are usually a bunch at a time and now you know why!) This is not a big change in my lifestyle but yet by being intentional with my time at home I am able to focus on other things that are on my goal list (such as writing posts for this blog, playing with my kids, and tending to the home).
My challenge to you! What is one small change you can make in your life to have a little extra time to work on one of your lists from Step 1? I’d love to for you to comment on it and let me know!
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