Don’t Give Up

There are times, especially in the current climate when you might feel the overwhelming urge to give up.

Many people I talk to are saying things like “I am sooo fed up of constantly struggling just to make money”. “I am exhausted of the constant battle just to earn a living”. “I am bored with the anxiety of never having enough”. What are we striving for?

I also meet people in business who are absolutely up there with motivation, energy, enthusiasm and courage to keep tweeting, face-booking, webinaring, networking, talking doing, doing doing – but when you stop and ask them what do they really want – it always comes back to the simple things in life. This frenzied anxious activity of trying to achieve more more more is always linked to the paradox of wanting less less less.

So this is where I take breath. How bored are you of doing more more more?

How fed up are you of being anxious about money?

At what point will be you be able to do less less less? Most people just want to be able to do their gardening, look after their kids, take a walk, play some golf etc. I often wonder if this is the pace that human beings should be going? Would we all be more appreciative, tolerant, forgiving, kind and grateful if we ourselves actually had the time to breath, relax, notice things, especially nature. Why does time go much more quickly as you get older? Is it because we get more and more frenetic about having to have.

The difficulty is that the forward thinking, societies and communities that we have created to have a nice life, have almost locked us into this existence.

Taking time out to truly breath, stand still, listen to yourself, your body and mind is essential. Being clear about how you do want your life to be is really important – if you aren’t, the danger is you could wake up in 20 years time, exhausted from the hamster wheel, still no better off emotionally or financially.

So how do we change it?

There are a few obvious practical things that you can review, like what do you really need in life? What can you sell, change, downsize, etc to make your life less demanding? But also, and whilst it sounds simple work out a plan of where you want to go and how do you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10years  ++++ time?

It sounds simple but a plan will take you to or second best, near the harmony you seek. The problem is planning is long term and why people don’t take action is they want instant results. Don’t forget life is about the journey not just the destination. Having a life’s plan will help take you to a more thought through destination.

It is better to plot a point on the horizon and have some sense of where to steer your ship. That way even when dealing with the inevitable storms of life, you will still be on a course that will be taking you ultimately to your Paradise island. That said if you don’t care where you end up then carry on doing what you are doing.

So don’t give up – but have a plan that will keep you focused on what it is you are trying to achieve and why. Keep focused and weather the storms. That way all the decisions you take on a daily basis will be taking you on a journey of discovery aligned and supporting your longer term plan!