Robin Sharma once stated, “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” I came across this quote the other day, and it really stuck with me. I have found myself being so focused on achieving perfection in school and my job, I feel like I have been putting my life on hold. I used to be about the spontaneous adventures with my friends, but now I have locked myself in a tight schedule and not experiencing as many things as I think I should as a college student.
All my life I have been told school first, but what if my intense focus is taking away precious life memories? Instead of associating adventures with time away from developing myself as a professional, I should look at it as an opportunity for inspiration and insight.
Effect of lost moments
I read an enlightening article about the popular “life flashing before your eyes” phenomenon. We are intrigued of this concept through things like movies and stories. Clips when a character is seeing past experiences from their life are filled with love, passion and adventure. You never see clips of them “binge” watching Netflix or sitting at their computer. Fill your life with the moments you want to look back on. Cherish your relationships with your friends and family, and go out to explore the world.
Discouraging perceptions of adventure
False perceptions of adventure can discourage us from going out and exploring. You don’t have to sky dive, or hike a mountain, you don’t even need to have a bold or outgoing personality. Adventure’s definition can be tailored to each individual’s personality. Whatever interests you outside your usual routine can be considered an adventure.
Don’t suffer an adrenaline high
If there are many people like myself out there, this article will be very eye opening. You may realize after a few weeks of all the things you have been missing out on. Although this can be motivating, don’t allow yourself to get out of the habit of working hard.
We should always have our careers on the top of our list of priorities. This is very important to achieve a good balance of working and living. Motivation to work is never a bad thing, but having it interfere with your personal life can take a toll on your fulfillment from life. Working too hard and missing out on life’s little moments can leave us feeling depressed and lonely. The goal is to achieve a fitting work-life balance.
Simplicity is key
In order to not over work yourself, it is critical to stay focused on one or two
objectives and saying no to the rest. Trying to accomplish too much will cause us to feel anxious, and our work productivity will decline. We should set a timeline for the few career oriented objectives we think are most important, and draft a timeline of events to accomplishing these objectives. This will help us to feel more satisfied with work we accomplish, and not jumping to the next thing when we should be taking time for ourselves.
How to step out of the workaholic trance
The work I do fulfills me because I can create things from scratch, but I don’t want to look back at my life and only remember working hard. My solution has become to dedicate my weekends strictly to friends and family, along with a fun activity I don’t typically do. Since I started this ritual the beginning of this summer, I have come back in touch with some old friends, observed profound culture at an art museum, and have experienced my ever longing yearn to paddle board. After three week of spontaneous experiences, I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store.
I challenge you to take time weekly to do the things that are important to you,
without feeling guilty about it taking away from doing something productive in your work life. Make a list of your values and experiences you would like to enjoy, and don’t under-estimate the satisfaction it will instill in you. And so the adventure begins.
By Amanda Hill Blog Content Contributor Businesses have mission statements, companies have slogans and manufacturers have trademarks. Without an identifier, a company would be lost and unable to achieve success. If a business must establish themselves for staying ‘alive,’ then we as individual’s should do the same. Defining your ‘mission’ will guide you through life, maintaining your sense of identity. This outline will help guide the draft of your mission […]
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