Category: Priorities

I had a disheartening conversation with a martial arts student yesterday.

She asked if we could cancel her membership because Med School was becoming too much for her to handle.

The classwork and labs and studying had become so much that she couldn’t devote the two hours per week required for training.

I spoke to her about the benefits formal exercise can have in the studying/learning process—of which there are numerous!

I spoke to her about time management and we talked about how two hours per week is only 1-2% of her available weekly waking hours (24 hours per day – 8 hours for sleep = 16 waking hours per day; 16 waking hours x 7 days per week = 112 hours; 2 hours of exercise / 112 hours = .017 or 1.7%)

I even spoke to her about the importance of leading by example and keeping exercise as a priority even when she was busy so that when she was a medical professional telling busy people to prioritize exercise—she had a foundation of experience she could reference.

And she politely smiled and nodded throughout, listening carefully to each of my points.

And then said she agreed and thanked me for what I said, but that she still needed to cancel because it just wasn’t possible with Med School.

And that was that.

A change in my life caused me to stop reading before bed.

And before bed was my time to read… established into my lifestyle for years.

But, I simply couldn’t do it with this new life change…

So I’m training myself to become an afternoon reader.

I’m cutting as much afternoon social media time as I can—at mostly zero as of late—and am replacing it with 20-40 minutes of reading time. Outdoors, too, when it’s nice enough outside.

It has taken me a couple of months to get to this point, but I can feel it starting to take hold.

Today’s reminder is to be diligent about making time and space for the things that are important to you in your life.

Life will always challenge you with distractions and by shuffling up priorities.

It’s up to you to keep everything straight in your mind and matched appropriately with the amount of energy and effort you put in.

This past weekend was busy for me.

I travelled to Pittsburgh, PA, USA for a martial arts tournament which involved planning, packing, driving, dining, coaching, judging, coordinating, problem-solving, facilitating, calming, communicating, motivating, entertaining, and of course… sleeping.

See both Friday and Saturday night… by the time I got to my Airbnb after a day involving everything mentioned above… I was exhausted.

And in both cases, I thought about my daily writing practice… and how I still needed to get something published in order to keep my schedule.

And in both cases, after some quick and calm reflection (while I laid in the Airbnb bed)… I realized that in that moment—sleep was the higher priority.

…Which is worth mentioning because this is not something I have always prioritized this way.

In previous times, the daily writing piece was prioritized higher over sleeping… and I would push myself to stay up late… sacrifice precious (and limited) sleep time… and essentially borrow exponentially into tomorrow compared to what I was putting in… affecting my entire following day.

For some crazy reason… society considers sleep a very low priority… and I FELT it for a long time. I’m slowly starting to unlearn this idea and give myself more grace when it comes to being exhausted after a long day—even when that means a daily 1-minute article will be missed.

Because you know what?

Sleep IS the higher priority over 1-minute articles… and for most other things we backwardly choose to do in its place for that matter…

My question for you is… what thing(s) have you backwardly been prioritizing that you need to unlearn?

One of the big benefits of stillness is that it allows you to take a break from the urgent and think about the important.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that stillness is a required ingredient for thinking about what’s important.

• How can you think about and strategically plan your optimal/ideal career path without stillness?

• How can you think about the most important relationships in your life and how you can continue to nurture and strengthen them without stillness?

• How can you understand yourself… your creative potential… your unique keys to happiness and fulfillment… without stillness?

…If your life feels like a never ending fire fight against the urgent, then you have to wonder when the important stuff is going to be considered… because if you don’t make time for it soon… the answer is going to be: when it’s too late.

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P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

1. A little bit daily. I don’t think many of us have a lot of time daily to do creative/inner work. And that’s okay. Deliberately carving out a little bit of time every day can have an “a lot of time” effect. Plus, the consistency and ritual of doing the same thing every day can make it easier and easier to actually do the thing the longer you do it—and your mind will start to anticipate your sessions and get into productive work states quicker and quicker. Aligning this with your morning or evening ritual can be an excellent place to start.

2. A respectable chunk weekly. If your daily grind is too crazy, (a) try to change that, but (b) until you can… reserving an hour or two within a week can be an excellent alternative. For example, maybe on Sunday you have a slow morning followed by a deliberate weekly reflection. The distinct benefit with this medium-length time is that you don’t have to spend extra time getting focused—whereas within the “little bit daily” sessions, some time will undoubtedly be spent getting into the right headspace.

3. A whole itinerary monthly or quarterly. This could be good for the person who rarely can find time for themself. Look at the month or quarter ahead and find the one or two days when you have the least going on. Block that whole time and create a creative/inner-work/self-care itinerary. Take this seriously and don’t waste it on social media timelines. Do not disturb mode; blank canvas; boredom; deep thinking; careful creation.

You’re not too busy to get creative/inner work done. You’re just not taking it seriously enough.