Freeing Up Your Life – If You Attempt To Load Everything, You’ll Sink

Building a worthwhile life is a lot like loading a boat.

“What?!” you say.

Well, the amount of stuff that you can load onto a boat is determined by the size of that boat. In the same way, the amount of activity that you can cram into a day is determined by the size of that day, and time has allocated exactly twenty-four hours to each day. So how you decide to fill those hours becomes up to you.

Here are seven things to keep in mind as you load up your day..

_____1. The only way to reach a port is to spend some time getting there. Decide upon your primary goal in life and then budget time for achieving that goal, otherwise you will never arrive. Any action that helps you to progress towards your goal should get loaded onto your daily schedule before anything else. As Goethe wrote, “Things that matter most, must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”

_____2. If you attempt to load everything, you’ll sink. Learn to limit your load. You can’t do everything, so decide what you want to do. If you have been trying to accomplish everything, then try to purposely limit the number of tasks you’ll allow yourself each day. If you practice the habit of not doing everything, you might actually develop the habit of prioritizing what’s important.

_____3. Rations need to last the journey. Have you every looked inside your wallet and wondered where that last twenty dollars went? When you don’t keep a record of your spending, your money disappears before your eyes. When you don’t budget your money before you spend it, you can never make ends meet.The same is true for time. You should decide where your time needs to go before you start spending it. You should also keep a log of how you spend your time, so that you don’t look back some day and wonder where your life went.

_____4. Captains need to keep one eye on the horizon… Don’t decide how you’ll spend today’s resources, until you’ve imagined how you want your life to look in the future. What is that future going to cost you? How are you planning to pay for it? The sooner you finish paying, the sooner you’ll arrive. And don’t forget to consider all of your resources, including time, money, property, energy, relationships and health. Budget all six of these resources wisely. Budget them with your future in mind.

_____5… and one eye on the deck. Once you’ve looked at the big picture, then focus on the small. Don’t become overwhelmed by the leagues in front of you. Even the smallest boat can eventually cover miles. Now is a point of power. Any action that you choose to take now, is the action that most impacts your future. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow never comes. The only moment in which you can truly make a difference is now. So don’t worry about tomorrow and don’t dwell over yesterday, just live each moment endeavoring to choose your best action for that moment. The actions you choose to take now are your only guarantees for the future.

_____6. A neglected crew usually jumps ship. You need to invest the majority of your time and profit into the people and relationships that are important to you. Couples that play together, stay together. Families that cook together, eat together. Companies that share success with their employees, gain the success of their employees. Any time you spend solidifying and building your relationships is always time well spent.

_____7. Your captain has the last word on what is worthwhile to your journey. Who should be the captain of your life? You…