Great post from Seth Godin:
We focus on the days, making short-term decisions, instead of being cognizant of the years. We ignore the benefits that short-term pain can have in earning us long-term satisfaction. Which means that we often fail to invest, embracing a shortcut instead.
Seth
Wise words. Having a plan for the week, month, quarter and year can make a huge difference to your life.
I had 2018 mapped out focusing on finance, major goals, health and travel. Having that visibility and self-accountability helped enormously.
It’s very easy to let a day, week, month and yes, a year pass you by in a blur of just doing stuff. If possible, be mindful of your day and how you spend your time.
Are you doing something that is going to help you achieve your goals and where you want to be in the future?
Terry Waite was interviewed in the book I mentioned a few posts ago, and said this:
It’s the same lesson I learnt in that cell. What you have to do is live for the day, you have to say, now is life, this very moment. It’s not tomorrow, it’s not yesterday, it’s now, so you have to live it as fully as you can. Invest in every day.
Terry Waite
It’s easy to bumble along and pass time. What is hard is to ensure you have a goal in mind, or goals so that your time, energy and work go into achieving something important in the future.
And don’t forget to be grateful for what you have.
Spending time in Asia makes this acutely apparent. We have so much but we can easily take it for granted.
A lot of people in Asia have so little but are willing to give you everything.
That’s an enviable attitude.
Having returned to the UK you don’t tend to see this. In fact, it is usually the opposite. That’s not an enviable attitude.
We could learn a lot from people who have a whole lot less than us and live in relative hardship. They still seem to smile more 🙂
Photo by Jorge Franco on Unsplash