The moment I open my eyes each morning, this is the question I ask myself:
What can I do with my life today?
This question goes beyond goal and priority setting.
That’s something I do each evening before I go to bed.
I identify the top 3 to 5 priorities for the next day, plug them into a specific time slot and commit to accomplishing them on that day, at that time. They are sacrosanct.
My priorities for each day are the stepping stones to achieving my goals: measurable, tangible things that step my in the direction of what I want to accomplish.
But my morning question is more about the intangibles of life…the things I can be, as well as the things I can do.
It gets to the essence of “me”: who I am, what fulfills me, what makes my smile and live a life of purpose, on purpose.
And it’s far more than goal and priority setting, although it’s definitely encompassed by that.
It’s more about the senses.
What do I want to experience, taste, test, feel, hear and see?
What do I want to give out to the world?
I have a few quotes that I live by.
The first was given to me at a very early age by my mother, who in Shakespeare’s words used to say to me: “This above all, to thine own self be true.” I have that line written on my heart, as well as every journal I’ve ever written in.
The other is a quote by Alex Noble:
“If I have been of service, If I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, If I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, If I am at peace with myself, It has been a successful day.”
I believe we spend too little time nourishing our “selves”, and too much time in a state of busy-ness: acting more like human doings rather than human beings.
There’s another quote that goes something like this: “Many yearn for immortality but don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy day.”
Are we losing the capacity to “be”?…to experience things fully for the sake of experiencing them, with no result or outcome pre-determined?
I’ll ask you a few questions to ponder:
Are you enjoying your life?
Do you experience something every day for the sheer pleasure of the journey, not the destination?
Do you smile, laugh, help someone, compliment someone or pay it forward with no expectation of return, simply because it just feels so good and so right?
Can you sit by yourself, alone but not lonely?
And finally…when was the last time you experienced something that could not be measured, but reaped intrinsic rewards beyond measure?
In the meantime, wake each day to a purpose not an alarm, and ask yourself: What can I do with my life today?
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