More Than The Daily Grind

Among the plethora of activities I juggle, I serve as a life coach. One of the privileges I have is to help my client’s set and achieve goals in their lives. Often the temptation is to develop a “master plan” for life. By setting goals for relationships, education, career and interests, some believe that they can plan their entire lives. By getting the basics out of the way, a course is set for the rest of life. But things don’t always work out the way we plan. (Trust me on that one.) Relationships can transform, education can become outmoded, careers can change and interests grow. A master plan can easily become a list of items to complete. Once those things are finished, then we can slide through the rest of our lives. When this happens, we no longer live intentionally, but instead switch to autopilot.

Living each day as something special unto itself is a better way to live. By focusing on the things that are most important and seeing them as life principles – not goals – provides an overwhelmingly greater amount of joy and satisfaction in life. Instead of thinking in terms of our entire life, we are better served by thinking in terms of segments, eras or days. Not tomorrow – today! Viewing life in this way causes us to invest in our relationships now – not just to see them as a long term investment that can be forgotten and gone back to later. Living life daily gives us the incentive to see our education as something that continues long after college with each day filled with opportunities to discover new truths. Careers and other interests are no longer “jobs” or “hobbies; instead they are passions which we engage and nurture.

Life on autopilot is repetitive and numbing. Engaging each new day and intentionally living out our beliefs and passions is a much, much, much better way to live. Try this: write down the three most important things in your life. Each morning when you awake, ask yourself what you are going to do to enrich those interests. Think of your life as a garden and these three life priorities are most important plants. How are you going to nurture those plants? What will you do today to help them grow? What weeds need to be removed so they can thrive? It isn't yet time for harvest...there is much growing to do.