3 Easy Steps On How To Create A Productive Life
Filed Under Self-actualization |
-Henry Ford, creator of Ford Motor Company
I talk with people all day long that say this simple phrase, “I am too busy.” I know how easy this is because I am one of them too. I heard a friend say the phrase “chronic busyness”. It hit me. There are so many moments in my life where I sit wasting my life away. I don’t mean just watching TV or surfing the Internet aimlessly. I mean even during the satisfied moments when I am “being productive”.
I remember hearing a story about an elderly lady that led her life in a very simple manner. She didn’t have a lot of “flash” and lived similar daily routines in her life. She never became popular or monetarily wealthy. She perfomed acts of service each day. These acts were done in private and done with compassion and selflessness, without desire for recognition.
After she had passed away it was noted by some of her close friends of her service. It was calculated that she did acts of kindness, known by them, for over 20,000 individuals during the later years of her life. This act had made an impact to some level in probably each of these lives, sometimes subliminally or without recognition, and I am sure these acts opened doors for these people to impact others.
Think about this life. She made use of her time to support the lives of others and give them hope and charity. If there is an afterlife and if you believe in that, then you may only wonder what type of welcome she would receive from so many lives.
“We need to push ourselves to make as many reductions as possible in our own energy use first.. and that takes time. But we must do this quickly.. the climate will not wait for us.”
- Rupert Murdoch, Fox CEO
We look at our lives and believe that being busy means that we are being effective with our time. We look at our “hard work” and we feel confident that we are living a satisfactory life, and that might be true, but you need to ask yourself “Am I doing the right work?” Every person works hard at something. Some work hard at a business, some for a business, some at eating (me lately), some at giving to charity, and some even work hard at sleeping. Where are you investing your time?
Many people feel good how they spend their time in their life by exerting energy to that which is common. Our bodies and minds build habits on how we exude our energy. These habits become soothing to us because they are what we know. We become so accustomed to it that we don’t know what other ways to exist.
I tried this silly cleanse the other day for my body and it required that I drank liquids for five to ten days and no food. Did you hear what I said…no food. Stupid. I realized very quickly that I was going to give up. I am addicted to food. I am not obese, but I am addicted to food and eating out.
I have recently been educated that we spend countless hours fulfilling responsibilities that we take too seriously, and although they may be important and necessary, we put too much stock into them. I want to introduce a few simple steps now that will not only correct your actions, but allow for you to multiply your most productive energy into the areas that will give you the most appreciation in your life.
- Evaluate your life by stating what you truly desire out of your short existence.- Many people fail to achieve their goals because they don’t know how to get what they want out of life and even worse…they don’t even know what they want. Establish your goals and visions of your existence now. I don’t care how old you are, just do it and make these remaining years worth it. Write down your specific monetary, physical, mental, emotional, charitable, and spiritual lifestyle you desire. Buy a journal. Whether it is a six pack on your stomach, a new BMW, a brand new shirt, rekindling a relationship…whatever it is write it out and look at it. Read quality books and watch uplifting programs that will inspire you to find out exactly where you are at and what you want.
- Strip out the useless- Ahh…this hurts so much. Get rid of your filthy habits. Take a hard look at what you are doing in your work day and what makes you money, or generally apply that to success in whatever goals you are looking to achieve. This brings us to Pareto’s 80/20 rule. 80% of your success comes from 20% of your effort. Find where that 20% is and be willing to cut out the rest. As I said, this can hurt so bad. It might require you getting rid of relationships, foods, favorite shows, or some other action in your day that you are used to. You probably don’t really love it and appreciate it, but you are so used to it and it is bringing your life nowhere.
- Multiply the 20%- When you have noticed what is creating your success continue to attack and attack it more often. Be relentless. You owe it to yourself. This 20% needs to be put into the other 80% of your time. Or even one step better leverage it into someone else’s 80% for value in return that they will appreciate. This might allow for you to correct some of these mistakes in your past and more importantly help you to achieve your goals in record pace and influence countless lives.
This is the makings of a great start. Don’t regret your past. Just influence your 20,000 now. It isn’t too late.
I am reminded of a wise man that discussed about his youth saying that he had performed service for a couple years looking to impact many lives. He came across a man and placed with him a copy of a religious document that he had hoped would give some spiritual guidance to the man. The man took the offer and told him thank you and he would take a look at it.
Years later this man had become old and look backed at those two year fondly with a great deal of growth and education. They shaped who he was, even if he didn’t receive what he sought out to achieve at that time. He was approached by a young man and he asked him his name. The wise man responded by stating his name and the young man was overjoyed. He handed him an old book that had been worn through the years as if it had been read numerous times.
The young man stated, “You gave this book to my grandfather and because of this single copy here that you hold in your hands, countless generations of his has been influenced because of it.”
The wise man had tears in his eyes and he realized then what an impact those two years made.
Remember that our 20% needs to have careful watching. When do we really ever evaluate our day? Start by creating a journal and be willing to write down your weaknesses. Be open to them and willing to become who you deserve to be, because you owe it to yourself and probably countless others.
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6 Responses to “3 Easy Steps On How To Create A Productive Life”
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Thanks for the tips, they will be valuable in my own life.
We can do so much. It’s only a matter of will.
yeah,matter of will.
Nice example of Henry Ford.
Stripping out the useless is great advice that not many do in this society. Thanks for the post.
I’m a teacher of entrepreneurship in our school, and I think this document of yours can be of help to me and my students to become successful someday. Thanks a lot. god blezzz……..