Pay Yourself First
As we work our way through the summer and prepare for the home stretch of the year, here's the question I'm asking in client jam sessions:
What do you need to do over the next 144 days to put a giant exclamation point on 2022?
Haven't thought of that question yet? Please take time this week to pause, pull up, and review progress against your Big Rocks. Another idea: make sure your theme for the year is still front and center. Reviewing both will bring clarity and help you course correct.
One more recommendation for an exclamation point ending year: make sure to pay yourself first each morning by making time for YOU before connecting with the world. Remember: how you do your morning is how you do your day. If you start by lunging for your phone to check texts and emails, you'll be lunging all day long. Plus texts and emails are just action item lists created for you by others. If you start on those you're 'paying others' before 'paying yourself.' And that's when stories from your ITG (Insane Thought Generator) begin to appear, clamoring for attention.
If you have a morning practice, great! Please review it as part of this suggested third quarter* review. If you don't have a morning practice, use mine to get started. It’s a 15 minute practice that helps me get grounded and set an intention for the day ahead.
Five minutes of reading to inspire the day.
Over coffee I read two pages from a recovery publication that includes one of my favorite self-care statements: “As we go through the day we pause when agitated or doubtful and ask for the right thought or action.” Then I read from several daily meditation books, highlighting a line in each for inspiration. I also look at the current collection of Post-it Note wisdom on my desk, zeroing in on what I feel would be the most helpful that day. For example, as I was writing this newsletter I reflected on this recent addition: "I am imperfect, and I am learning to embrace it."
Five minutes of prayer and meditation to quiet the mind.
One of the most frightening words in the English language is meditation, immediately followed by prayer because we judge ourselves that we don’t know how to do either one correctly. (I thought that, too, for a very long time.) Close your eyes, say ‘thank you’, and reflect on something, for example the line you highlighted in a favorite book or the view outside your window. Just like that you’ve prayed—and meditated. You’ll find that simple ‘thank you’ will grow into something meaningful and deeply personal. My prayer now ends with a request for help staying spiritually awake, creating space to feel whatever I need to feel, and GOOGW**.
Five minutes of writing to connect.
Last year I changed my journaling practice by incorporating The Morning Magic 5-Minute Journal into my morning. There are five prompts to write against for each day, hence the 5-minute reference. (Full disclosure: I enjoy lingering longer with each prompt.) One of the prompts begins "I'm grateful for..." and I have a goal of listing ten things each day. A Wall Street Journal article earlier this year article asked the question, "Is the secret to happiness a gratitude practice?" I give gratitude a giant thumbs up. According to the article, Stephen King does as well. He starts every day with gratitude.
Earlier this year I shared my theme for 2022: Let go. As I reviewed my efforts against eight specific things I'm working to let go of, I'm proud of myself for making solid progress on some. But there is still more to be done, and writing this newsletter is helping me course correct to ensure that happens.
*The first regular season game of the 103rd season of the National Football League is on September 8, 2022. #GoPackGo
**GOOGW is not a new Google ticker symbol. It stands for Getting Out Of God's Way. However you define and name the something in the universe that's bigger than you, I believe it's working for you 24x7.