Image by: Wisdoms of Health
I think most people would agree that we live in a busy world. There is always something shouting for our attention or demanding our time. In the 1960s, the results of a study undertaken by the US Government declared that in 20 years, due to all the technological advancements, the biggest problem facing people would be what they would do with all their spare time!!!! Now, I don’t know of anyone who would claim that as a reality in their lives today. The fact is, life is busy!
The more time we ‘save’, the more we fill it up with other ‘urgent’ things. But how do we maintain balance? How do we make sure that the important things and the important people in our lives get the attention they deserve? The truth is, it is a continual battle to make sure that we prioritise our time and lives well. Unless we are diligent and make the right choices, we will find ourselves continually compromising and neglecting the people and things that are important in our lives.
Over my life and career there have been times when I got this right and, unfortunately, many times when I didn’t. The worst time for me was when I was working for an IT firm in Melbourne. With my role in this company, I was responsible for a lot of projects and clients, and the more I did, the more I got to look after. Pretty soon, and without me really even realizing it, I was spending most of my time in the office and not enough time with my fantastic family. This situation came to an end when my wife challenged me on what was more important! To be fair, my wife had commented many times about my absence but I always justified it with, “It’s my job, I’m doing this for you and the girls.” The problem was that my absence sent a message to my wife and children that said, “The job and the money are more important than you.”
In this busy world, we need to take time to prioritise our lives; to make sure that we understand what is important vs what is urgent. Understanding this it makes it easier to know when to say “yes” and, more importantly, when to say “no”.
See, I work now for an organization called Metamorphic. I love what Metamorphic is and what we do and I believe that this is what I am called to. I could do many things; I have even been offered different roles in different organisations and, to be honest, some of them could be tempting. However, for me it is an easy decision because I already know the direction that I am heading in.
If we have identified our direction, if we have a clear understanding of what is important to us, then we will be able to maintain our focus and not get distracted by other ‘things’ shouting for our attention. It’s not that we neglect other tasks, it simply means that we give the appropriate attention to the things that will help us to achieve and move us closer to our dreams. After all, we only get so much time in life, why not make every minute count.