What Have You Done For You Lately?
How much of your time is really your own?
How much of your week is spent doing for others, and doing things you’d rather not be doing?
Great questions from Tony D. Clark for this coming holiday season. What Tony suggests at his blog, Success from the Nest, is that these are also good Weekly Review questions, so you can “think about how your time is spent. Time is one currency that can’t be replenished, so do your best to spend it wisely.”
The reason that Tony’s posting jumped out at me however, is because of how perfectly it fits within the soul searching of our value for this month, for as I had written, “I think of Nānā i ke kumu as the Hawaiian value of self-respect and dignity of spirit.”
The self-reflective exercise Tony suggests is a simple one, however its’ wisdom gets lost in that simplicity, for it is one of those things we can rationally think about, “Yes, I get that; I’m better for everything else when I take care of me” but we don’t sit down and do it.
So DO IT. Treat yourself to that gift of soul-searching this weekend. Look to your own sources of well-being; have you truly and accurately identified them? Knowing what they are, do you have a working plan for duplicating them so they continue to nourish you?
This is a season of joy and of excess, and we need to be selective.
Here is Tony’s exercise, and do click in to his blog to read his presentation of it; he gives a bit more coaching. From Tony, bold is his emphasis:
Take out a piece of lined or grid paper, or open a spreadsheet, and mark out your hours for a week. Then:
- Shade in the hours spent on things you hate doing and that are for someone else.
- With a different color, shade in the hours spent on things done for others, but that you like doing, or get some fulfillment from.
- And last, but surely not least, color in the hours you spend doing for you - things you like and that are done for you.
I did it :-) My highlighter colors were 1. yellow (yup, like yellow light), 2. pink (gives me a glowing pink kind of feeling), and 3. green (green light, gotta do more!)
I was pretty happy with my results, because my pre-work for yesterday’s Nānā i ke kumu announcement has served me well. Now to keep it up.
Related posts:
- Tony D. Clark and I seem to have a belief in planning in common; this was the first time I introduced you to Tony: Nalu it, Planning, and Success
- More on the productivity side of things: Loving my Weekly Review
- Our December Ho‘ohana is the work we devote our month to, with purpose, with passion, and with full intention; Nānā i ke kumu, Look to your Source
Hi Rosa – Thanks for the link. I'm glad you found the post helpful.
We sometimes make time to take stock of things. It's just that too often, we might leave ourselves out of that exercise.
There's a big difference between being selfish and being self-attuned. Knowing what you need and being able to get it is an important skill to cultivate.
Posted by: Tony D. Clark | December 02, 2006 at 11:48 AM
Mahalo for stopping by Tony. “Self-attuned” is a great distinction!
Posted by: Rosa Say | December 02, 2006 at 12:24 PM
This makes me smile, Rosa. Tony's karma must be on the rise; he's all over the place these last few days. It's a good thing.
Carolyn
Posted by: Carolyn Manning | December 02, 2006 at 05:42 PM
Yes Carolyn, I would agree that it's a good thing. Optimism and generosity with what one knows are infectious in Blogsville, and Tony has both in good supply, so people sit up and take notice! Whatever attention Tony may get is well-deserved.
I take pleasure in being the cheerleader of those who are positive forces in our world - as are you!
Ho‘ohana Community, do click on Carolyn's name to see the stunning design of her new blog!
Posted by: Rosa Say | December 02, 2006 at 05:59 PM
Thanks for the link, Rosa. And for the nice words about the new design.
Posted by: Carolyn Manning | December 03, 2006 at 01:29 AM
You're welcome Carolyn!
Posted by: Rosa Say | December 03, 2006 at 10:24 AM