Financial planners and consultants often say:
“Pay yourself FIRST!” . . . to encourage folks to set money aside in RESERVE before paying everyone else (the bills) . . . they know that if you don’t pay yourself first, you’ll likely get into a pattern in which you don’t EVER pay yourself.
There are many “Millionaires Next Door” who made their $Million simply by paying themselves first . . . and often, these folks don’t look (or live) like the stereotypical Millionaire . . . and they are HAPPY and relatively “Anxiety Free.”
I think these guys are onto something BIG . . . and it’s not all about money.
The most successful people clearly understand and live by this principle of taking care of self FIRST . . .
The underlying magic of this formula is that the “Highest and Best use” of ANY person is only attainable when that person is fresh, healthy, present, and FOCUSED on a well defined azimuth – trajectory towards an objective or PURPOSE!
Now . . . the sad reality is that it is increasingly difficulty in this day of raplexity (Thank for this word Dad) to find the peace . . . the space . . . to CLAIM this “Take care of self” . . . Everyone wants a piece of you every minute of every day, right?
I believe it starts with the first thing you choose to do each day upon rising from the bed . . .
If you’re one of those folks who goes straight to the computer to check email, facebook, your Quicken account, voicemail . . . THIS is a KILLER!
LITERALLY . . . THIS practice is killing you a little more each day because you are not giving yourself a chance to gain full consciousness before throwing yourself into a vortex that will gain control of you for the remainder of the day.
So . . .
Start each day differently . . .
Begin with just YOU and NO-One else . . .
Forbid yourself to even touch an electronic device of any type until you’ve done your “Chores”.
What are your chores?
I’ll name mine . . . you decide what yours will be 🙂
- Start coffee brewing
- Silent meditation
- 2 mile walk
- Shower/shave/dress
- Prepare Breakfast and start the blender (Wake up the children)
- Make Box lunches
- “Hang with the Fam” til it’s time to leave.
- Drop kids off at school – To the office – Boot up the computers
- Write the daily blog post
- 30 minutes to PLAN and prepare for the day
- NOW – I check email, voicemail, facebook (Usually @ 9 AM)
- and dive into the day.
- Mid-day . . . I take another “Me Time” break with brief meditation and a walk outside.
Some folks call this “Sharpening the saw” – Stephen Covey talks about attending to Spiritual, Emotional, Social, Mental, Physical well being.
Until you “get this” . . . Life is REACTIVE (Not responsive) and high anxiety because you are choosing to relinquish your self value/worth and bounce through life as a ball in a pinball machine . . . no fun!
The true fix centers around a simple formula of taking care of yourself so you can the BEST you . . . When you are the BEST you, you will serve others oh-so-much-better.
This Wednesday 2/29/2012 from 9-12, I am facilitating a “Life flow Workshop”
During this 3 hours, participants will do some SERIOUS “Take Care of Self” work . . .
- Examining BIG things like “Life Purpose” . . .
- Identifying personal 20% “Vital Few” activities (and people) . . .
- Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timebound) Goals . . .
- Learning a new RHYTHM (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Annual) to stay on course to move towards the goal . . .
- Committing to understand the importance and power of ACCOUNTABILITY.
and all will leave the room at noon with a personal plan and some great tools to stay on track.
This Workshop is FREE . . . All you’ve gotta do is RSVP and SHOW UP!
Just sayin’
Best,
b