“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly – that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” ~ Anne Lamott ??
After loss of any kind comes a time (when it feels right) to rebuild. It’s necessary to spend your time, energy, and focus in an intentional manner. Too many distractions, less important goals, and a shortage of resources can get in the way of living an amazing life. The lack of a clear objective is the greatest obstacle. These are challenges that can be solved with a little effort.
Create a life that’s meaningful to you:
1. Remove what isn’t necessary. Too many responsibilities and distractions are obstacles to an amazing life. Get rid of anything that takes up time or space and doesn’t provide a worthwhile return. It should be important to you if you choose to include it in your life.
2. Decide on your priorities. You might not be able to walk on Mars, climb K2, become a movie director, and be chief of neurosurgery. However, you can accomplish some pretty amazing things over the course of a lifetime. It’s important to narrow your focus to a few priorities. What’s the most important thing to accomplish or experience? Keep your list short.
3, Stock up on the necessities. Creating an amazing life requires courage. The more your risk, the more courage you require. But imagine if you had plenty of money, time, energy, and support. You’d need much less courage to chase after that amazing life. Fear will have much less influence over your life. Start building reserves in the key areas of your life.
4. Remove the distractions from your life. It might be the television, the casual friend you’ve been half-heartedly carrying around for 7 years, or the goals that only interest you moderately.
Warren Buffett often advises people to make a list of their top 10 priorities in order of importance. He then says to avoid numbers 4-10 like the plague. Those are the things that get in the way of accomplishing the top 3.
5. Deal with negative thoughts. Big goals and ideas stir up negative thoughts and emotions. Failing to deal with these can cause big challenges down the road. Be committed to expecting the best, finding solutions, and staying positive. Negativity takes the wind out of your sails and fuels procrastination.
6. Spend your time wisely. There are multiple ways to accomplish any task. Avoid taking the easy path. The easy way is often the long way. Life is short, so choose the shortest path to your amazing life. This is often the most uncomfortable path, but you can handle it.
7. Get started. The first step is often the hardest. You have everything you need to take a meaningful first step. Avoid waiting for some future event to occur. You can do it today, even if you have kids, a limited income, or limited knowledge. Just get started.
It’s not that difficult. There’s really much less competition in the world than you think. Look at how much time the average person wastes at work and at home. Most people fail to prioritize their time. Most people don’t have goals. Most people have too many distractions. When you choose the direction of your life and eliminate distractions, the road is relatively easy. Setting priorities and removing distractions are the keys to creating a meaningful life. Use your time wisely. There’s still time to live the life you’ve always dreamed of, but it’s important to get started today.
