MAKING TIME FOR WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Why is it so hard to make time in our lives for what really matters to us?  I went to see my 90 year old aunt over the weekend and had such a nice visit.  The entire trip took about 3 hours including travel.  Visiting her has been something I have wanted to do for months but only when I got the call from my mom that she is very sick do I move this visit up on my priority list.  Why?  I sincerely care about my aunt and really want to visit.  Why do the seemingly important things in our lives get pushed aside time and time again?

Way back in my early corporate America days, I remember attending a sales training and being awed by this video which is a visual demonstration by Stephen Covey called “Big Rocks, Little Rocks” from his best selling book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.  The point of this video is to demonstrate that you need to  schedule your important “big rocks” first and then the rest of your life will fold around the “big rocks”.  If you’ve never seen the video, do yourself a favor and watch.  It’s message is humorous, real and timeless. 

The really important things in our lives – time with friends, family, self care, pursuing our passions - these are the “big rocks” which Covey says need to be scheduled first.  He demonstrates this by putting some ”big rocks” in a bucket and then pouring “little rocks” in, showing how they fill in around the “big rocks” as needed.  Just like in life.  In Covey’s next book, First Things First, he expands on this concept by challenging us to live in “Quadrant 2″ taking care of the “important but not urgent” first and trusting that the “urgent but not important”  that we are always pulled to do first, will get done, may not warrant our immediate attention or may just go away altogether.

Taking care of the important things in our lives first.  Why is it so hard to make time for the big things in our lives? Making time for family, friends and the things that make our heart sing, our passions.  Today, my creative spirit is yearning to write yet I am struggling with creating time for this passion.  Writing is a luxury left to independently wealthy artists or at least people with other sources of income to earn a living.  I am a single parent launching a new business.  Should I bother writing if it can’t support me?  Shouldn’t my energy and time be spent pursuing and growing my coaching business?  How will  I support myself and my 8 year old daughter if I am off “writing”? 

My logical, thinking mind (which graduated with a degree in Mathematics!) screams….Writing….are you crazy?  But it’s the voice I hear when I am still.  It is also a talent others often point out to me – “you should write a book”, “I love reading the way you write”, “your blog posts are thought provoking”.  Aren’t these ”nudges” from the universe that I am training myself to listen to? 

Deep down, where I know all my answers reside, I ask “Do I want to write?” ”Yes” is the answer I hear, so it should be a no brainer, right?  Wrong.  The next question which quickly follows is “Where’s the beef?”  Ahh, there it is -  the green-eyed monster – “show me the money!!!”  If I can’t earn money doing it, is it worth my investment of my precious resources of time and energy?  If there’s no immediate payoff should I pursue it?

So, now the question with an “important” thing like a calling or passion becomes, how do we create time for our passions which are not fruitful in terms of producing measurable results? – which for me often equates to money – the dreaded killer of the soul. 

Today, I am committed to making time for what’s important.  Listening to the messages from my soul.  The visit to my aunt is a step.  Turning the TV off another.    Follow my passion? Now the stakes are a bit higher.  As I detailed in my post Leaving A Job To Follow Your Passion – Courageous or Crazy, I am taking money out of the equation, tapping into a small retirement fund and trying an experiment with my life.  I am testing the “follow your passion and the money will follow”.  Follow me along and let me know if you have too have the courage to “throw caution to the wind” and follow your heart. 

What important things are you doing?  Are you able to ignore the urgent and prioritize the really important things in your life?  Comment and let me know your thoughts.