This week I was sitting on the phone on hold to a large company, waiting waiting, I thought of things I could have done while I sat there — waiting — not living my life.
Are you “on hold” in your life? It seems to me that we all seem to waste or use up a lot of time by waiting for things to happen.
Are you waiting for your partner to come along, waiting for them to get your home organised or various odd jobs done, waiting on a great paying job to fall into your lap, waiting on winning the lotto to plan your retirement? Stop waiting on your life! The only difference between you and the people who are getting what they want, is that they kept moving and you didn’t. Here are some ideas to help get you started again.
1. Focus on the who, not the what
If you find that you’ve been stuck in a goal for a while, try restarting it in “who am I” terms instead of “what I want” terms. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose 5kgs.”, say “I am someone who takes care of themself by keeping their weight around xx which is a healthy range for my height and age.” Be as specific as possible. Notice that “I want to be someone who helps others” could mean anything from a shop assistant to a heart surgeon, so it is important to define it with “I want to help people by serving them great coffee”. Focus on who you want to be. Then ask yourself what actions would fit with your desire “to be” instead of “get”.
2. Analyse it
Did you know that a full 80% of your problems come from 20% of your life? So, it is important to determine what that 20% is that’s affecting so much of your life, and start working to make it better, more efficient, more satisfying.
3. Assign Value
A big mistake I see in my coaching clients is they don’t assign a true value to their time, to their energy, to their money, and to their belongings. Realise that for each thing you say yes to- a pair of shoes or watching a movie – you have said no to something else. Always ask yourself – is this valuable enough to me to crowd my life with, or even to bump something else from my closet, my schedule, my money? Is the cost or the price of this a good investment?
What would happen if you spent less time waiting?
