{Glacier National Park}
"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through." ~ Rosalynn Carter
In Week 32 I wrote about the dangers of living your life on autopilot; this week I am writing about the importance of follow-through on achieving your goals and how to use a schedule to live your priorities.
Last Friday I returned from 10 wonderful days in Whitefish, Montana. I spent 5 days at Writer's Retreat reaffirming my desire to write and the remaining 5 days photographing the majestic landscape of Glacier National Park and the surrounding area. It was a period of learning and exploring; I was energized upon returning to New York. I declared now is the time to follow-through on my commitment to finish the book I started a couple of years ago. I was stoked and ready to make it happen and then...I had to do laundry, fill an empty refrigerator by grocery shopping, sort and answer mail, respond to business requests, pay bills, start physical therapy for my foot. As you can see, daily tasks started to erode my time; these necessary maintenance tasks were getting in the way.
After three days of doing anything but writing, I said, "Enough, stop". And I did. I left the house, drove to our local public library and sat down in front of my computer and wrote. It was just like starting a new workout program. At first it felt awkward; I had left the characters in my book hanging for over 2 years and we had to get reacquainted. Next, I started to remember the vision but knew I would need to write daily to get back to the level of energy I had when I stopped writing. Finally, as I left the library, I felt good about the work and myself. Following through on my commitment to write left me smiling all day.
To wish, to dream, and to declare are all good and noble aspirations but the follow-through is the necessary ingredient to accomplishing your life priorities. When possible order your day so that your life priorities have the benefit of your energy and brainpower. I am committed to writing first thing in the morning so that the day doesn't get away from me. Getting the book written is my number one personal goal so I now schedule time to write before I do anything else. If you are finding that your life is becoming a series of maintenance tasks that zap your time and energy, look at creating a daily schedule. Schedule time to do that which, is important to you; a schedule will help you follow-through with your stated goals. Now that you have declared your goals, achieve them by taking the time to follow-through.
Get caught up on the entire Intentional Living series:
- Week 1: The Importance of Taking Time to Think
- Week 2: Asking the Right Questions
- Week 3: What is working in your life?
- Week 4: Do you have your priorities straight?
- Week 5: Are you moving forward?
- Week 6: Setting Lifetime Priorities
- Week 7: Decision Time
- Week 8: Planning
- Week 9: Review
- Week 10: Four Reasons Why
- Week 11: Are You Being True to Yourself?
- Week 12: Self Realization
- Week 13: Sharing Your Vision
- Week 14: Do You Have the Key to Success?
- Week 15: Do You Remember When?
- Week 16: Is Course Correction Possible?
- Week 17: Fear As A Motivator
- Week 18: The Crazymaker In Your Life
- Week 19: Stay Focused!
- Week 20: Relationships
- Week 21: Cognitive Gridlock
- Week 22: One Thing At A Time
- Week 23: Cause and Effect
- Week 24: What's Your Story?
- Week 25: Boredom
- Week 26: Exhaustion
- Week 27: A Change of Scenery
- Week 28: Getting Back On Track
- Week 29: How To Say No
- Week 30: What is the Rhythm Of Your Life?
- Week 31: Do you live in the moment or in the future?
- Week 32: Are You On Auto-Pilot?