You know what? I’m a hypocrite.
I seem to always be telling people that they’ve gotta have dreams, they’ve gotta have goals, they’ve gotta have something to work towards.
But I haven’t even been doing that lately. So, what the hell, right?
I mean, for a good portion of this year in particular, I’ve kinda been just floating along. At one point in time, I was simply counting down the days until I left this country on my trip. At other times, I’ve just the days until the end of the week.
Does this sound familiar?
Between you and me, I find this style of living completely bullshit.
It’s unsustainable, a waste of time, and it’s far too depressing when you begin to think long term about questions like; ‘do I really want to be going like this for another 40+ years?!’
What makes it worse for me is that I used to be a much better promoter and portrayer of the exact opposite.
So, why all this floating then?
Well, it’s hard to pinpoint exact reasons, but I feel as though I’ve kinda just been grinding away. You know, not focusing on anything except work, training, and school.
Which is good on one hand, but to me, it really isn’t too good of an approach to a wholesome life.
I mean, in this type of headspace, grinding away, the days just seem to melt away and before I know it, it’s suddenly Sunday again.
Do you ever feel the same?
Well, with around three weeks under my belt since I’ve been back from overseas, I’ve come to a huge realisation: things have to change. Hell, things need to change.
I can’t keep rocking my life how I’ve been living it. Something has to give. If I don’t take control and do something about it, then something will without my influence. And when that kind of thing happens, it’s never a good thing.
But listen, let me admit the reality that we’re all aware of: it’s easy to chill, grind the 9-5ish life, count down the days until the weekend, and then do it all again in the following 168 hours, right?
Getting caught up in the speed of a routine and daily life is a simple feat to accomplish. But, a sad one at that.
However, and it’s a big however. Writing this article is me calling myself out. It’s time to change some things.
Starting with my goals.
But look, this isn’t just a ‘me, me, me’ article, I want to know about yours. Have a think.
Personally, mine have been needing an update for a while, but how long has it been since you took a step away from your busy life and assessed what you’re doing and where you’re actually heading?
I could probably make a guess to a large percentage of people out there and say it’s been quite some time.
If you’re not in that category, then really, bravo.
But, I’m not here to make you feel down about the rapidity of life and where you may or may not be heading in life, I’m here to help you turn that around. You know, give you a little direction kick and make you think about a couple of things that you’ve been putting to the back of your mind lately.
The four golden areas
I’ve spoken about a simple plan to get some things in your life back on track before in a few articles that I put out this year, but I think it doesn’t hurt to repeat them.
The four golden areas that I speak of should always be put on a pedestal. Meaning, paying attention to their levels and giving them priority whenever it feels like life is kinda just sitting in a neutral state, plateauing, and pushing them to the bottom of your to-do list.
Your health. Your relationships. Your work/job/career/whatever you want to call it. And your hobbies.
These four areas all intertwine and affect one another. If either one of them are not up to a level that you personally deem ‘acceptable’ or at a happy level, then shit starts to crumble all around you.
How to keep track
A good little exercise to make yourself aware of the current state that each of them are in is to firstly write down each of them (use your phone if you like).
After you’ve done this, briefly brainstorm and jot down as many positives and negatives to each of them. You might be surprised what the ratio is.
Once you’re done there (try not to spend too much time on each of them – literally 2-5 minutes on each), you can start moving onto deeper things including goals that will automatically show up after your little assessment.
Now, this might all seem like bullshit, but honestly, give it a go. What’s the worse that could happen?
It’s back up
With all this thinking and talking about goals, I’ve decided to open up downloads for my book Game Changers once again for the remainder of the month.
Assessing the golden areas is a start, but this book is what I like to call a ‘focus initiator’.
It’s jam packed with 11 habits that you can implement into your life right away. No planning or waiting until a Monday. The information in it is ready for you to absorb and implement immediately.
Sound too good to be true? Well, it get’s better.
It’s free to download, too, so why not pass the link along to your friends, family, strange guy next door?
Just hit the picture below to check it out.
As for me…
With the realisation of where I’m heading being plateauing lately, I’m putting it out there. Here are two short term goals (that I’m cool with sharing on here) that I’m working on right now that’s going to give me some focus over the lead up to the end of another rapid year (yeah, it’s already mid-August).
1. A jujitsu competition this weekend and on the 6th of September.
2. Meal prep one day per week so I don’t have to miss/rush cook and consume.
Might be stupid goals to some, but any type of focus upon improvement is the right type of focus.
So, what have you been putting off that you should start addressing?