ANDY ENRIGHT

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” STEVE JOBS

Steve didn’t waste his life trying to be someone else. He figured out what he wanted to accomplish and set out to do it. Why don’t more people do that?

Maybe they don’t think they have permission to pursue a dream or passion.

Maybe they are just afraid.

Maybe they have become conditioned to never questioning the status quo and never even consider that there is life beyond going through the motions.  They merely exist without really living.

Or maybe, just maybe, there are people who dare to consider that there might be something more to life than all that. Like Neo in the Matrix, they intuitively know that there is a deeper reality than what we see and they have an inner drive to find it. They are not afraid to take the red pill, in fact, they welcome it. Like waking from a dull dream, living the life you were meant to live opens the door to a world in vibrant living color, like morphing from a 2D sketch to a 3D sculpture.

“Most people live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them”- HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Each of us must choose: to live our life, sing our song, or die wishing we had.

Imagine how it will feel to die knowing you truly lived, that you fulfilled your purpose and that you mattered.

Why?

Children ask it instinctively when told something is the way it is.  They do not understand, so they ask, for no other reason than to gain knowledge.

As we get older we learn not to ask why.  We quickly learn that compliance is valued above creativity.  Instead, we ask other questions that have to do with results- how, who, what and where.  All legitimate questions if we are trying to complete a task for someone else’s agenda, but they distract from finding our own primary purpose and confuse us into thinking that the reason we do what we do is to achieve the desired result.

The most common mistake is to think that our “why” is to get paid.  We all need and want to make money, but is that really our dream?  Somewhere between childhood curiosity and grown-up responsibility, we get lulled into complacency by a system that rewards “doing our job” and confuse earning money with fulfilling our purpose.

Why?  It’s perhaps the most powerful question a person can ask, especially of themselves.  Not simply about actions, but about our very existence.  What’s the purpose of your life?  Everyone has the same basic needs, so let’s remove everything that has to do with supplying food, clothing and shelter from the equation.  That means whatever you do to earn money is not your Why.

Time is the most valuable commodity we have.  If you lose money, you can get more.  Time is irretrievable.  Once spent, it’s gone, which makes it extremely valuable.  How we choose to spend our time is a good indication of what our why is.

So, if money were not a factor, how would you spend your time?  Before you start thinking about all the pleasurable things you think you want to do (emphasis on the word “think”), consider what it is that gives you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.  Here’s a hint- something you do, create, offer, produce…that has a positive impact on other people.  Once you figure it out, make a plan to allow yourself to live it.  What could be more important than fulfilling your purpose in life?

 

Got a list that’s getting longer by the minute but not enough hours in the day to get it all done?

 

Try using this tip I learned from Siimon Reynolds new book, “Why People Fail”.  He quotes Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA:

 

“Time is your most important resource.  You can do so much in 10 minutes.  Ten minutes are not just one-sixth of your hourly pay.  Ten minutes are a piece of yourself. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.”

 

Admittedly, this is a radical technique!  But what if we just applied it to attacking the things on our list?  Spend just 10 minutes doing one of the things on our list.  What are the possible outcomes?

 

Well, we might get it started, and then when 10 minutes is up, we can decide whether or not to continue or move to the next item.  Just getting started can give us a rush of adrenalin that we need in order to complete it.  Or we might just get it done all together!  Think of how that would feel!

 

The benefits of using the 10 minute technique?

 

• Increased energy and enthusiasm
• Increased confidence
• A sense of accomplishment
• Actually getting stuff done!

 

I wrote this blog in 10 minutes because I committed to just take 10 minutes rather than write a novel.  Plus it’s all the time I had to work on it!

 

The 10 Minute Technique works!  Try it now!  And check out Siimon’s blog and consider reading his book- you’ll benefit even more from his insight and wisdom…http://www.siimonreynolds.com/