Someone attending a workshop raised her hands to her face, set her hands like walls around her face and said, "I am trying to focus on what I really want to do, not just my list of things I need to do."
She spoke a brilliant truth.
It is easy to get consumed by the things that are due, the stuff on the list. It requires setting boundaries on that stuff so you can get to what really matters, your Really Matters list.
#1 Write the Really Matters list every day. (RM next to it on the list you make for your day)
You have to know your things that really matter for the year, set your vision, and then break that down to month, week and days. Just important to know what do you need to do to actually be doing the stuff that Really Matters.
Usually people keep track by writing down all the little things, like mail this, return that call, send this information somewhere, but they don't write down the Big Things that Really Matters to them personally to get done. Always write the Really Matters list. If it is on the list, you will get to it.
#2 Apply your strength and best energy of the day to your Really Matters list. Save the little things that don't matter like paying bills, scheduling things, for the time of day when you are worn out and tired. Or you only have 20 minutes to do something, knock things off the little stuff list.
#3. Allow yourself flow time with your Really Matters list. Flow is uninterrupted long periods of time. If I am working on my Really Matters, there is no email, phone checking, or intermittent conversation.
Flow is blocked on my calendar so I can get the time to actually do what Really Matters.
I have been reading Hillary Clinton's book Hard Choices, her memoir as Secretary of State. The book clearly spells out the boundaries that were required for her to accomplish the Big Things that mattered to her in this role. She had to use boundaries all the time to not allow her time and attention to be distracted and consumed. As you read it is clear she was working with a vision of the future. It takes boundaries to move a vision forward.
The same is true for all of us. We all have a Big Things That Matter to Us, a vision or purpose. It requires boundaries to accomplish anything.
If you would like to attend a workshop and focus on your boundaries, we will talk about things that Really Matter and all the ways to use your boundaries to support you. These are the next open workshops: Click here to register.
July 11- Mukilteo
August 1- Edmonds
October 17- Pacific Lutheran University-Training for therapists for CEU's
October 18- Tacoma
In the next 3 weeks, July-August 55 people who work in human services in Snohomish County are taking the workshop in privately scheduled groups. I am so excited! In September, I have been invited to return to Island County Human Services and provide CEU workshops.
