For many years I adopted Lee Iococca's proactive way of listing six things in a day that he needs to get done and then prioritizing them. The thinking is that if you get through all six things then you can make a new list. If you only get through one or two things then at least you've done the most important tasks of that day. I've been doing this for about six years. That thing is done.
I've even tried to do the seven habits of highly effective people. I hope my principal isn't reading this but that's a little too involved for me.
My two new things have come from the Zen Habits and Martha Beck who writes for the O magazine. From the Zen Habits I was very interested in an article about living without goals. The thinking here is that if we're so focused on certain goals then we've already pre-determined our path and it's difficult to let other experiences into our lives. Or we're so focused on achieving that we don't appreciate the experiences that get us there. Another thought is that if we don't succeed in the goals we've made then we're disappointed but if we didn't make the goal in the first place we can't be disappointed. If you would like to read the Zen Habits post you can click here.
My other new thing is Martha Beck's thoughts on what to do if you want to change the behavior of a loved one. The answer is to love them and not give a damn what happens to them. If you want to read that article you can google Martha Beck unconditional love. I tried to put the link for you but there was an error.
I think that my two new things are very much related. Both of them involve not setting expectations.
Well I'm off to do...something.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.-Albert Einstein
Posts
1 comment:
I have just recently started trying to live with less goals. And you know me, I'm very goal oriented and type-A. I find that I am much happier though if I just go with the flow a little more. It leads to less disappointment. That's not to say I don't still plan and carry through on plans- they are just more short term and less trying to plan out every minute of the next 5 years.
P.S. I remember when I had and then you had the aloha spirit and I remember when school murdered it for both of us. Let's try to get it back.
Post a Comment