Yesterday I was asked what was I looking forward to in the close future projects or events coming up. I sat with a dumb look on my face with no reasonable answer.
This bothered me.
There are many projects both internal and external in my life that I need and want to work on. Being a self-employed person I always feel like I’m on the cusp of my capacity with inquiries coming in. I’m blessed in this circumstance. I am also an idea-generating entrepreneur who has internal battles about finding the time to do more. Not to mention all the cooking I like doing and people I like spending time with.
So I’m not bored is my point.
Why then was I stumped to answer the simple question: what am I looking forward to?
I’m going to blame January. A month meant for fresh starts to the year. New beings. And time for changes. In reality, though, January is the aftermath of the build up to the Holidays. It is a time for recuperation. And that is acceptable.
Some will suggest that it is the lack of sunlight that causes this funk. Especially here in Yellowknife. And while this is a factor, I have never thought it affected me to a noticeable degree. I’m sleeping my seven hours a night. I’m exercising more than an hour a day. I’m eating well (not enough sometimes 😉 )and I’m even more sociable than in the past (which I’m enjoying).
For my workload, January has been a month of repetitive catch up after taking two weeks off. It isn’t that I’m overloaded, rather that I’m working my way through a pile of undone tasks. With the hopes of resuming a regular billable/non-billable workload.
When I realized I was in this routine on repeat with no outlook on the future, I wanted to correct that thinking. I then remembered something I had recently read in the book: Why People Fail: 16 Obstacles to Success and How You Can Overcome Them. The advice was to spend 10 minutes each morning thinking about a goal you wanted to achieve.
The notion is the more we think positively about a situation the better the outcome will be. Positive thinking influences our ambition to work towards our goals.
Taking that advice I’m going to spend 10 minutes each morning thinking my own immediate future. I’ll do it in complete silence with no distractions. I’ll focus positively on those micro-goals and let that positively influence my day. Letting it recharge me and excite me about archiving them.
Sounds like a bunch of guru mumbo jumbo but doing the opposite is a lot more obvious. When a person is constantly thinking about a bad situation and fearing an outcome you can tell. You can see how it is negatively affecting their whole person. Attitude, demeanour, language and routine.
So why then can’t obsessing about positive outcomes also affect a person’s self in a good way? Making them happier, more ambitious and more optimistic in every aspect of their life?
I say it can. And I’m going to try it.