Do Work That Matters, by Jon Acuff
Chapter 04
The road to awesome is not easy, it requires time.
Change has to be simple, easily manageable, or we fail before we start. We can add on other changes down the road, but when we're beginning our journey, we need to get one thing right: one tiny taste of progress. The mountain can wait, it's been there for years and will be there tomorrow. We don't have to do it all at once. We don't have to rescue our entire year at the beginning of our journey. START with 30 minutes in the week. This is the single, biggest, most important thing you can do.
Don't be selfish at the wrong time of the day. Carve out a time in your day and claim it. If your dream isn't worth thirty minutes, you either have the wrong dream or you are just pretending to have one. Nobody invests this "selfish time" on the road to average.
Five-Step Secret To Getting It All Done:
1- Admit that you can't possibly get it all done.
2- Give yourself the grace to accept that as reality, not failure.
3- Do the things you can do, with your full attention.
4- Celebrate what happens during step 3, instead of obsessing over things you didn't do.
5- Repeat as necessary.
Start on step 1, if you can get that done, you're 99% of the way there and will have a better grasp on being more awesome, more often.
When your life flashes before your eyes, you start to realize how you've been taking things for granted. At that point your life will never be the same again. Create in your mind, a life changing event. Ask yourself "If I died today, what would I regret not doing?" and "Are those things I'm spending time doing, right now?" Let these questions become driving motivation in your life, from now on. "Am I content to remain on the road to average?" "Do I want to wake up at age 70 wondering where all the time went?"
#1 Regret of The Dying:
"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."
Health brings a freedom very few realize until they no longer have it. For the average person, the reality of death is the only thing more powerful than the fear of living the life we deserve.
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Personal Notes: I could be investing my "30 minutes" earlier in the day, after he goes to work and the kids go to school. I could be investing my 8-5 in a much more constructive manner. I admit that. I have been investing time in the 10pm-12am (sometimes up to 2 am) in being constructive with school work and motivational inspiration. I am a late-night person. I know one thing that I need to invest time in, and that is gym time. Perhaps I need to invest time in that, during the 8am-12pm time.
- If I died today, what would I regret not doing?
1- I would regret not having spent more time with my family.
2- I would regret not having used my time wisely.
3- I would regret not having had a productive career, college education, and accomplishment.
-Are those things I'm spending my time doing, right now?
No. I waste a lot of time and I am very unproductive.
-Am I content to remain on the road to average?
No. I am not content to remain in my "comfort zone" any longer.
-Do I want to wake up at age 70 wondering where all the time went, and with regrets?
No. I wake up now, in my mid-40's, wondering why I have wasted so much time. I have allowed Fear and Doubt keep me wasting time, because I have believed in their lies.
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