Remember when I declared in an earlier post that I’m dream, acting, living bigger in 2025? Good news is that I’m keeping myself aligned with most of my goals. I’m making progress on a number of aspects from my health to some new initiatives that will move my life forward in important ways. They won’t happen on their own, so I have to make the time and effort. This feels a challenge when life already feels maxed out.
Now, a few months in, I am tired. Really tired. I’m losing motivation for the early morning workouts and spending my weekends creating content, amongst my many responsibilities as a parent. Despite making good progress, there’s no natural resting point. Finish one task and another one follows. I can’t keep this up.
My mental and personal experience in this time hasn’t been great either. The “doing” has taken over my life and my mind. I come home from work and squeeze in emails instead of decompressing. I wake up with my head swirling with to-dos instead of gratitude.
I am the opposite of present. I am not enjoying the journey.
So, as I step into spring, I’m changing full-throttle approach. It is time for a few tweaks: I want to change my experience and be more present without having to go on vacation. I want to take important strides without burnout. I want to enjoy the journey more.
How can my desire for progress blend into my life rather than take it over?
First, I’m evaluating what needs to happen now. While it might be true that without actions today, results cannot fruit tomorrow. Not all goals need to be pursued now. Nor can they all be pursed in one today. Instead, I’m ranking my priorities. In this sorting, I see what is time sensitive, high value or meaningful, leaving all else for the weekend or until the summer. Current priorities:
The exercise of sorting through priorities is both clarifying and gratifying. With a list, I can what’s swirling in my head with more focus. When I can see my task list, which reflects my expectations, I discover what to push off for now, later or what’s unrealistic.
Then, I back up this discovery with my time. Rather than using random early mornings or carpool waiting time to dive into tasks, I calendar my efforts towards my goals for the week. Even by identify the days of the week I will accomplish something like a workout is motivating. I have a general plan while keeping flexibility on the times of day it will happen. I use my carpool parking lot time to accomplish lower priority tasks, so that other goals are moved. I give boundaries to myself on when I will not work, too.
Finally, I break goals up into steps. This is important. Otherwise, I can never cross anything off my list. By breaking down my goals into smaller steps, I lower the bar. The smaller steps are easier to tackle but also satisfying to do.
Website refresh:
- Schedule photoshoot
- Explore features of websites I like
- Create list of ideas
- Contact the web designer for brainstorming, quotes, timeline
With these shifts, I’m looking forward to continue my goal-getting in this more low-key, achievable way. But for it to become enjoyable requires a mindset shift, too.
Mindset and energetic work to transform your ‘doing’ experience
With these shifts, I’m looking forward to continue my goal-getting in this more low-key, achievable way. But for it to become enjoyable requires a mindset shift, too.
Because I can easily lose myself in work, I need to equally focus on my mental and energetic discipline. Lately, I’ve been waking up thinking about writing edits and meeting schedules rather than the gift of the day. What’s worse is I go straight to the computer than to my meditation space. Energetically, if feels as if I’m pushing a boulder up a hill and can’t separate myself from the pursuit or take a break.
There’s no journey to enjoy in that paradigm. That’s where the mental work comes. Keeping myself disciplined on my grounding routines like yoga, meditation and personal writing is essential during consuming times. It is important to step out and let the engine idle.
Inviting my mind to raise its attention from tasks to something of higher vibration is another way to transform an experience. For example, as I write this, I have the Hanuman Chalisa playing in the background. Choosing uplifting music, spiritual chanting, poems or mantras to listen to is one way to change your experience in the moment with a task. When your consciousness is given the chance to uplift, your work changes.
Turning to gratitude is another practice to explore help the mind see the bigger picture. As I drive to work, I listen to this gratitude recording to elevate my perspective and remember the “small things.” My mind goes from 30k feet to 3 feet in front of me. It just feels good and gets me out of my head.
I’m hoping this more balanced combination of mindset work, time boundaries and concentrated action is helpful in creating the groundwork for more joy in my journey, allowing me to enjoy my doing more for myself and others. I hope it helps you, too.
