Make a List

Make a DifferenceNo, not New Year’s resolutions… that boat has sailed. No, not Naughty & Nice… where have you been?  Make a list how 2012 is going to be different from all the rest because you are going to be different, not average. Wave farewell to mediocrity. Time for a tastier you.

Regrets

blank calendar

New Year. New You.

On New Year’s Eve, did you look back into 2011 to see what you had accomplished? Did you get it all done? All of those things you wanted to do, the resolutions, the goals, the dreams? No? Did you do something else entirely? Sounds like regret.

Do not regret. Use the memory to head in the (opposite, right, better, straighter) direction.

The Law of Averages

"It is a well-documented fact that guys w...

Hi, Ho. Hi, Ho. It’s off to work I go.

Average people spend time doing mundane things, for hours at a clip. For instance, the average American worker spends 100 hours per year commuting, but only 80 hours on vacation. Hmm, strums the chord of Dull Jack.

Dual income parents average just over 90 hours a week on the job, not including commute. That still leaves some afternoon/evening time, right?

Average Joe and Jane spend almost two hours doing household chores, like cooking and cleaning. Another average two and a half hours are frittered away watching television. Add the eight average hours sleeping, and there is not much in the way of a day left.

Stop being average. Get a pencil and paper. No, really. I will wait.

1. Make a “Good List”

What really matters in your life? Stop. Sit down. Think about it. What matters most? Write it down. Turn the paper over.

blank paper

The “Now” List

2. What do you do?

On the back of the paper, write “The Now List”. Create a list of what you do each week. Beside each item, write how much time you spend doing it.

3. Straighten Up

Organize The Now List. What is required? What is optional? What is a complete drain of time and energy/money?

4. Fix it.

Change the list. Drop the optional things which are not built on the good list and those which waste time.

5. Do not waste time.

Time is not a renewable resource. Once you fiddle it away, it is gone forever.

Need some help?

Did you have a hard time with the first list after you got past friends, family and grand/children? Are some of these important to you?

English: Everett, Wash. (July 13, 2005) - Sail...

Getting in shape is good.

  • Faith
  • Mate or finding Mate
  • Health or fitness
  • Relationship security
  • Pets or animals
  • Music
  • Helping others
  • Career
  • Pitching in with a friend
  • Education
  • Hobbies
  • Sports

Is the list beginning to flesh out a bit? Reread #5. Now, can you rearrange your schedule to include more of these and less of the things filling it now? Good.

Post the list on the refrigerator or over the coffee pot where you can see it every morning.

Take it for a test drive.

Filling your schedule with the important things in your life is far more rewarding than having bumper-to-bumper, time-wasting, non-happiness-seeking activities. Try your new schedule for a week. See how much difference it makes in the way you feel about the direction your life is headed.

Help me improve the list. What things made your Good List which are not listed above? Did you find more than you expected to take off your Now List? How can you make a difference?

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14 Comments

  1. I am glad you put ‘helping others’ on the list. For my ‘now’ list I would not add ‘mate’ to it. I believe we have to be content and happy completely with ourselves before we reach out to someone else and many people are looking for someone else to ‘complete’ themselves. Good post Red!
    christyb

    Reply
    • Helping others is such a self-esteem builder. My best advice to parents is always to expose their children to good self-esteem exercises. It only follows…adults are someone’s children, so benefit from those same exercises.

      Very true! I had not planned on tackling dating yet, but with an increasing number of singles joining the audience, I may have to step it up a couple weeks. Trying to find someone who makes you a whole person is not fair to either person.
      Red.

      Reply
      • This bit of advice is a GEM, Red. Kudos. The building of good self-esteem is one of the most important issues in society today. Parents with high self-esteem are more likely to teach their children the same. Can you imagine how many fewer psychotic people there would be in the world if the concept of “good self esteem” was taught properly to all children? The result would be an enlightened–or at least vastly improved society. That teaching is one of the things that should be on the MUST DO list. ~r

        Reply
        • I am going to be delving into more personal growth over the course of this season. There will be more “feel good about yourself” posts which necessarily produce a really good “make others feel good” effect.
          Red.

          Reply
  2. I’d put “enjoy the journey” at the top of the list Red. Too often, we make lists, set goals and cruise through life on auto-pilot. Life is a delicious, creative journey to be savored — Now.

    John

    Reply
    • Amen to that, John. One of my favorite Redisms is: The road is long. Life is short. Enjoy the journey.
      Red.

      Reply
  3. I never do lists of any kind, even when I go shopping I rely on memory of whatever needs to be bought in for the week, and as for a to-do-list for the now, well I would never write one of those as I like to be spontaneous, I mean doing things on a certain day or whatever just adds a boring twist to life don’t you think?

    Blimey I have some friends that say “It’s Nookie Night Tonight”, well that in my opinion is totally boring, I mean sex and the deliciousness of same is an anytime happening surely, well that is what I think anyway and it certainly keeps the fun aspect alive, and extremely wicked too 🙂

    Have a wonderful evening Red 🙂

    Androgoth XXx

    Reply
    • I will never be able to understand people who have sex by a calendar. *Giggles*

      Keep exercising that brain to hold those lists. Wish you could bottle those skills. You would make a fortune 😉
      Red.

      Reply
      • Well my method of remembering the shopping is based entirely on memory but unfortunately it is not a photographic type and I do forget some items now and again, so maybe I should adopt your list making ideas 🙂

        Have a fun weekend Red 🙂

        Androgoth XXx

        Reply
  4. Yes, I have done these lists, I’m very organized, have no emergencies in life the whole doing things is a problem based on what I mentioned to you already …
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