How come the plants in my yard never look this nice?
It wasn’t too long ago that I spent way too much time playing video games. I mean we’re talking two, three, four hours a day. It would be, you know, whether it’s on the PlayStation or on the computer, or online it didn’t matter as long as I was playing. It all boiled down too: I really wasn’t focusing on my life and wasn’t growing my future or getting ahead.
And looking back now, it was pretty much a waste. I know, we grow from the things we experience, but I could have done so much more with all of that free time. But there is something you can do about that. You can pay more attention, you can stop doing what sucks, and you can start being more focused.
Pay More Attention
Paying more attention might take a little bit of effort and maybe a tool such a time log or event log would be a good idea. Basically, what you do is you’ve got a sheet of paper and you write down what you’re doing and when you’re doing it.
Let’s just say do it in 15 minutes increments, and do this for a week, two weeks, maybe three weeks max, to where you can get a really good feel for what you do everyday, all day for several weeks. And you can start to see patterns in your time log. And by seeing these patterns, you up your awareness and you can see where your time and focus is going.
Stop Doing What Sucks!
Actually, it drives into point number two quite well. Stop Doing What Sucks! If you see that you’re spending hours upon, crazy hours doing something like video games, watching TV, hanging out at a bar, or whatever people do these days, that just isn’t the greatest use of time.
Find those things in your patterns and in your time log and say “Hey, okay it’s time to stop these things, or at least cut back.” Why don’t you try to cut back 10% this week, and in two weeks 20%, and then three weeks 30%. And then the only problem you’re going to have is trying to figure out what you’re gonna do with all that extra time!
Start Being More Focused
Get in close, take the shot, and start making life count, folks.
And this finally rolls us over into point #3: to know what you want to do and what you want to get accomplished for your future. Start using that extra 30% that you just freed up from getting rid of the sucky stuff to apply to the really cool stuff that will help change your life.
And after focusing on this brand new ‘You’ and you start steamrolling ahead, it’s then that you realize “Hey, this whole ‘change my life’ thing is really not so bad.” It’s definitely worth the shot.
Pave the Way for a Better You
You can really change your life and pave the way for a better ‘You’ in the future when you start paying more attention, you stop doing the things that suck your life away, and you start being more focused on the things that grow you, those are around you, and your overall environment.
Now, find and use the tools to grow your future – it’s in your hands.