Getting out of the Grind

I have been painfully reminded of perhaps the most important thing to plan for my life and anyone's life on a weekly basis. Pretty much, I got caught up in life with responsibilities. Probably never happened to you before, right? WRONG! I can't believe how easy it is to get caught up in our lives and forget to do the most important thing in our lives (which I'll get to in a minute).

So this is what happens if you forget that oh so important idea... I bet this will be TOTALLY unfamiliar (ok It'll probably be really familiar... it just happened to me today for crying out loud!). You wake up barely on time and make it to class and go through your day jumping from one commitment to anther and slightly stress out about a future/past event instead of being in the present. And then bouncing from one thing to another, you end up coming home fairly late and don't have time to really time to do anything because it is bed time. Then you wake up and repeat the process...

But this is what you gotta do... (and yes I'm going to make you press the more button to find out!)

TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF! :) I'm so sure you haven't heard that before! Ok, you probably have as well. If this is news to you, I'm kind of shocked. It is definitely one of those fundamental principles to living a high quality life. So, I'm not telling you this because you aren't familiar with the concept. In all likelihood you are, but if whether or not you know it is not what actually counts. I knew that too, but still smacked into a wall today after ~3 days of not taking time for myself (or living in the present). What actually counts is whether or not you actually live your live in a way that reveals that you REALLY know that it is critical to take time for yourself.

This begs the $1 million question... How can I guarantee that I will take time for myself and hit significantly fewer walls in my life and live more fulfilled?

Well, I'm glad you asked! :D I have a few suggestions that I will also be following to fix the problem.

#1: Make spending time with yourself a priority. It is impossible to keep up a committed schedule without taking time for yourself. Make sure that in your daily plan (maybe even your List of Six), you set aside time for spending time with yourself. Perhaps reading, praying, drawing, writing, or sitting in nature would be a good idea. To be honest, I struggle the most with picturing what spending time with myself looks like. If you have an idea, LET ME KNOW! I'd love your help! :)

#2: Ask for help! I definitely just did that ~1 line ago... Maybe you can help me! :) I struggled the last few days partly because I took on too many responsibilities. Delegating or asking someone else to help you is fabulous. The best part about this is that most people really enjoy helping people! But I can't read people's minds who need help. Explicitly asking for help is the best.

#3: Be transparent. I also struggled with this one the last couple days. I was acting more passive-aggressive than usual complaining to random unaffiliated people rather than solving the problem. That in of itself is a problem because I'm not living in the present moment when I'm complaining about the past! By being open and honest with people about your stress level, you will feel better and will likely get more help. Also, by demonstrating your strength to open up about your problems, others will feel more comfortable to do so. Then everyone wins! :)

#4: Change your perspective and get Grateful! :) This is what turned it around for me tonight - I forgot the last two nights... I forced myself to appreciate people. Get a gratitude journal. Please get one if you don't have one because I can't recommend it highly enough. :) You will definitely be surprised how much it helps to write down what you appreciate in life on a daily basis.

Lastly, this is just a sampling of potential fixes. I'm definitely not an expert because I totally messed this up in the last 3 days. My suggestions are be based on what I'm planning to do to fix this problem, not a 100% proven method. These recommendations are from my knowledge/research on the subject, not from an awesome personal track record. BUT these have worked for me in the past; the consistency component is what I personally need to work on.

I hope this advice helps! I am definitely using it! :) I would love to hear from YOU in comments! What are you doing to prevent from getting into the grind of life? How you take time for yourself? :)

I love my life! :)