What are you missing -- Because you're too busy? (Healthy Living DIY)

One day last week, a coaching participant and I were on one of our regularly scheduled calls when she made a particularly enlightened observation! Not unusual for her, by the way. :-) I told her it was likely to show up as an article soon, and today's the day!

Before you read any further (or decide not to), I have a couple of very simple questions for you:

Are you completely 100% satisfied with absolutely every area of your life as it is today? So satisfied that you have no further goals or intentions for the future? So satisfied that if things in every area of your life were to continue exactly as they are today for the rest of your life, you would be just delighted?

Are you confident enough in the problem-solving skills you have right now that if life were to hand you a big surprise (say, a mudslide wipes out your home), you'd need no further outside input to rebuild the foundation you've set for yourself today?

If so, then here's about how I imagine your life looks:

Your retirement is fully funded.

You enjoy perfect health.

You wake each morning fully rested and excited to meet the new day.

Your work (and yes, you surely do something) stimulates, interests, and challenges you.

Your personal relationships are deep and fulfilling.

You delegate or defer low-priority tasks, and those that are better done by someone else.

You are supremely skilled at walking that razor's edge between focus on high-priority tasks and opening yourself to new information and feedback.

If this is you, then congratulations! You've probably already had the insight I'm about to reveal.

On the other hand, if there's any little tweak that might better your situation, then you could be very interested in "Jane's" enlightened observation.

Here's what she said (paraphrased, of course): "I was feeling unfocused and discontent, worrying about what was going on in my life and not getting much done. So I decided to stop my busy-ness and write in my journal as you'd suggested." (Truth is, I'd suggested it a couple of months earlier and she'd gotten enough benefit that she'd kept it up!)

Here's the key phrase to pay attention to: "So I decided to stop my busy-ness."

Jane's particular insight was that she had the ability to choose or reject the various tasks that kept her so busy. Busy, and also away from the higher-priority activity that in this particular case would bring her back to a more resourceful state. Away from doing what really needed to be done.

So she stopped.

Didn't fold the laundry, clean up dust bunnies under the couch, check her e-mail, weed the garden, phone her best friend, catch the news on TV, bake cupcakes for her grandchildren, or any of the long list of also-important-but-lower-priority activities that would have kept her away from the #1 action that really needed her attention in the moment.

The result was she clarified what had her distracted and was able to handle it. Then, clear-headed, she was able to go back to all her other tasks and be more productive.

Said another way, she allowed herself the opportunity to bring peace to her life that day. She grasped the long straw and made her life just that much better. And she felt good for having done so.

I'm sure it would have been far easier to prattle on with the "to-do" list she no doubt had worked out, at least in her own mind. But Jane didn't want to miss out. And she didn't!

Here's the clear question for you: what do you miss out on because you're "too busy"? Why not stop the busy-ness right now and take a few minutes to clarify your thoughts? You'll be glad you did.

By the way, the first week of September, I'm planning to offer you a simple experience to help you get back on a productive track for fall. I hope you won't be "too busy" to participate!

Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!

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Comments (1)

Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk:

My apartment is a mess and sooner or later I'll straighten it up. I learned long ago that life is too short to notice things like that. I believe I can honestly say I already fit your description of the ideal life. I focus on what satisfies my soul and I find a way to share it with others. What more could one ask for in life?

Posted by Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk | August 24, 2007 5:52 PM

Posted on August 24, 2007 17:52