7 GODLY reminders to focus on what matters

What you focus on grows.
Stop managing your time.
Start managing your focus.

How am I making meaningful use of this scarce and precious day?

This morning after a 20-minute meditation I asked my friend whom I was meditating with, "are you ready for your day?" 

She replied, "I'm off today, it's been a busy week so I took the day off".

This leads me to a reminder about being busy or over-busyness, which is an epidemic if you ask me. 

Too many of us are so filled with work or we fill our calendars and our social media feeds with various kinds of busyness, oftentimes just to avoid being bored… to avoid being exactly who we are, exactly where we are. The instant we feel a bit idle, we run off in the direction of the nearest shiny object or comment that catches our attention. And in the process, we not only miss out on the serenity and beauty that exists within ourselves, but we also miss out on experiencing that same serenity and beauty in the environment around us. Our busyness has blinded us with “hurry” and “worry,” and the endless need to be somewhere else, doing something else, as fast as feasibly possible.

That was me a few years back and still sometimes now, even when driving I'm flipping through my facebook, insta or answering WhatsApp messages and not paying much attention the road.

Misalignment of Priorities

Truth be told, most of us suffer from a severe misalignment of our priorities. Ask yourself this question, how much joy do you derive from your most common daily activities?

I think most people would find more joy spending time dedicated to family, practicing spirituality, or working on a passion project, than from time spent watching TV and browsing social media. However, I'm willing to bet that a lot of people if asked would admit to spending more time watching TV and browsing social media than engaging in the activities they say give them more joy.

Some might say our tendency to perpetually waste time reveals our true priorities – that we’d rather engage in mindless entertainment over just about anything else. But that’s not true. What’s really happening is an error in our decision-making process. Our modern-day, busy lives tend to be routines of constant distraction. We think about the past and future far more than the present… we think about other people’s social lives instead of our own…we are physically in one place and mentally in another. 

Without a conscious presence, we mindlessly occupy the present moment with low-value activities that lack meaning and joy.

That’s why we all need to remember these…

Reminders to Focus on What Matters Most

The solution to our time-wasting tendencies is a long-term practice. It is to religiously raise our awareness of how we presently manage – and waste – our time. And that’s exactly what the seven mantras below (which are excerpts from a few books and blogs I picked up) are designed to do – they will compel you to steal your time back from those recurring time-wasting tendencies you’ve grown accustomed to.

Anytime you catch yourself wasting time for the sake of wasting it, remember…

1. The quality of your life in the long run directly depends upon how you set and respect your priorities today.
2. At times, you have to say “no” to good things to be able to say “yes” to important things. You can’t do it all. Be mindful and choose wisely.
3. “I don’t have time,” is really just another, perhaps politer, or perhaps naive, way of saying, “It is not that important to me.”
4. Don’t waste your time and energy fighting against where you are. Invest your time and energy into getting to where you want to go. And even if you have a good reason to be upset and resentful, let it go. Channel your energy into thoughts and actions that actually benefit your life right now
5. Be present with what matters most. There are few joys in life that equal a good conversation, a good story, a good laugh, a good hug, or a good friend.
6. Overcommitting (a friend said I was an over committer) is the biggest mistake most people make against living a happier, simpler life. It’s tempting to fill in every waking minute of the day with to-do list tasks or distractions. Don’t do this to yourself. Leave space.
7. You should sit quietly for twenty minutes today to gather your thoughts and review your priorities, unless you’re too busy, in which case you should sit for an hour. Remember this. The world is as you are inside. I take 20 minutes most mornings to meditate. 

Come and join me

Now, it’s your turn…

Before you go, I’d love for you to reflect on the distractions in your life…
What’s one frequent distraction that wastes your time and gets between you and your priorities?
Please leave a comment below with your answer, so the rest of us can see that we’re not alone in this struggle, and so we can work together to eliminate these distractions and the unnecessary stress they create in our lives.

Big Luv Nas.