When are we going to get “there”?
You might be thinking about you and your family driving down the road and your kids repeatedly asking that question. That’s not what I’m talking about.
When are you going to be fit enough, spiritual enough, financially strong enough or your relationships good enough?
When are you going to arrive?
The answer is NEVER!
I remember asking my Pastor if I’m ever going to wake up one day and have my faith be strong enough.
His answer was simple…nope.
This can either encourage or discourage you depending on your outlook. You may be thinking, “If I’m never going to arrive, what’s the point in trying to improve?”
I’m so glad you asked:).
One thing I have figured out in my short 44 years of living on Earth is that life is about growing, expanding and getting just a little bit better every day in the areas that are most important to you.
For me, I do a little bit each day in my Faith, Family, Fitness and Finances. You can break that out even further or change them based on your beliefs but that’s what works for me.
Here is what that looks like for me:
Faith
- Every morning I meditate for about 10 minutes (nothing weird or goofy, just clearing my mind which reduces stress)
- Then I journal what I’m grateful for and anything else that comes to mind
- Then I read a few chapters from the Bible.
Family
- Daily I ty to acknowledge my wife for something I love, honor and respect about her. It might be through text, face to face or by taking her on a date
- I intentionally invest time in my 3 boys by doing something with them. It may be homework, shooting baskets, playing a video game or anything else that’s going on in their world. That doesn’t happen every day but I am aware and intentional, not leaving it up to chance.
Fitness
- I do something to sweat 6 days per week. That may be lifting weights, doing cardio or being active with my family.
- As a bonus I leverage my workout time by listening to podcasts or books on audio that feed my faith and mindset.
- I eat for fuel not for pleasure. I want to have an abundance of energy and be sharp mentally so that starts with what I am putting in my body. Vitamins, fish oil and extra protein is part of my healthy eating program.
Finances
- Every day I learn something about marketing, sales and leadership. It may be one of those areas or all three depending on what I am reading or listening to. I shoot for a minimum of reading 10 pages and/or 30 minutes of listening per day. (The listening happens during the workouts)
- From every paycheck I give away the first 10%, save the second 10% and live off the rest.
There are a few more things scattered around in there but these are the non-negotiables. For me it’s more about consistency and making small investments on a daily basis rather than “hoping” for a windfall of change to happen all at once.
(Some days I do well and some days I miss it so don’t think this is coming from a person that has it all together. I’m far from perfect.)
This is called the compound effect and it is working in your life right now.
As you take inventory of where you are right now if you like what you see then what you have been doing is working. If not, well you need to change some things. That’s the awesome thing about life. If we don’t like where we are, we have the power to change things.
Start by figuring out the areas that are most important to you and then start one habit in each of those areas that you can do on a daily basis. Simple, but not easy:).