Really? People ask, “How do I do it all?” My answer – I don’t do “it all” at once. Come on everyone superwoman doesn’t exist. Or does she? I think you already know the answer. I hate to disappoint you but the secret is one little step at a time, and you’re probably already doing it yourself and didn’t know it. It’s in tiny bite-sized pieces. I accomplish small and simple things. As long as I’m constantly and consistently working toward my dreams I know I’ll get there. “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” -Japanese Proverb. I love this thought and I believe it’s true. I don’t know it all. I have never claimed to know “it all” or have “it all” or know how to do “it all”. Knowing everything is a prison. I’m only passing on information I’ve grown to appreciate in my own life. I think “baby steps” is common knowledge isn’t it? It takes action to get anywhere. If you want something go get it. No one is stopping you but you. You are capable of anything, you just need to go for it. You will get what you want and have all that you desire. If you want a romantic relationship, focus on romance and create it in your life. It’s up to you not your boyfriend. Set the example. If you want your kids to eat their vegetables, eat them yourself and be happy and energetic about them so your children are curious and want to do it too! You have a lot of influence! YOU have power! You can do anything you set your mind to! Take charge of your life. Quit blaming other people for your problems. Start owning your life and do something about it. Shift your perspective. We all have problems. We all have trials to help us grow. If you’re not growing you’re not living! Be grateful for growth. If you want more creativity, sign up for an art class and get yourself going on a new project. If you wait around for someone else to come along with answers for you, you’re never going to be happy. Listen to your heart, it will speak to you if you are quite. Only you can truly decide what is best for you, it’s already inside of you. Your happiness comes from within, you decide – there is no one else in charge of you.
Your focus needs to be consistent if you want to accomplish anything. I’ll talk more about focus and vision another time. It is what keeps me motivated and helps me also to celebrate. (I’ll talk about celebration in more depth too in another post.)
Today I want to talk about spending time and focused effort on something to achieve results. If you want results you need to stay at it. If you want to accomplish something you need to put in the time and effort. It doesn’t need to be a lot either. It can be a tiny bit of time, but over many hours, weeks, months, or years you will end up seeing results from the amount of effort you are giving in this area. There are other things you can do too, like being grateful and I’ll talk about that another day too. If you continually work at something over time you will have what you desire. Start small. Very, very small, and learn to how to celebrate and appreciate your effort.
Last year I wanted to extend and create a larger edible garden. It took a lot of planning. It wasn’t all created in one day. Are you kidding me? It went in stages. I worked at it and scheduled time for it. I planned out what needed to be done and spent hours creating it, reading about it, and studying it so it would be what I wanted. I had to work several hours on it until it became a reality. Things don’t just fall into my lap. I’ve invited people over to see it and they are all amazed with it. “How do I do it all?” Well, I say, it’s a little time spent, and a little effort every day goes a long way. Now, when I look at my garden, I think about the time I’ve spent on it, I enjoy the beauty of it, and the fruit and vegetation from it. All of this makes me feel good. It makes me happy. The hard work I put in has given something back to me in return and it isn’t just food. It is the satisfaction that my time and effort was worth it. I gave my attention toward something and it paid off. I now have something beautiful and enjoyable for many months ahead. This is true of everything we do. Be careful what you spend your time on. We can spend just as much time on effortless, mindless activities too and this adds up to be unfruitful. (I stopped watching my TV about 4 years ago… Another reason I have more time to do “it all”.)
It’s easy to get frustrated at times when we think things are not going as planned or when life throws a curve ball at us. It’s easy to get caught up in disappointing news. I do it too! Nobody is perfect. We’re all learning the skills. It’s also easy to become impatient and want things to go faster than they are already unfolding. When I think back over my musical life and spend time realizing the many things that have gone as planned, and what has worked out to my advantage, it’s such a beautiful thing. It opens my eyes to new possibilities and helps me realize that things do work out. Positive things happen daily. Don’t be discouraged. Hang in there.
Think of a seed. When I started my garden, the seeds I planted didn’t sprout the very next day. I needed to be patient and I needed to continue to work at it. I didn’t ignore it just because it wasn’t bringing me what I wanted instantaneously. I had faith that if I gave it my attention, and my focus, if I brought water, and nutrients to it, over time it would sprout and give back to me. This is true with our talents and goals. If we use them, and work at sharing them with others, we will grow and we will also receive. Work at refining your rituals – little by little and over time you will see results. And maybe one day, someone will ask you, “How do you do it all?” and you can explain to them how it works.
Primping Assignment: Pick one area of focus you can spend a little time on this week. Commit to spending no more than 2 minutes or less per day for the first week. This way, if you go over 2 minutes you’ll be happy, and if you only have 2 minutes to spend you will feel great success, both are important.
