BR 35: Life Is Too Short Collection: Focus Your Energy, Then Let Go...

Hi everyone! This is Connie Sokol, and you're listening to Balance Redefined Radio. I've spent over 20 years teaching people how to redefine what balance really is, meaning a more purposeful and joyful life.

They’ve paid off credit cards, lost weight, organize their homes, and created a meaningful life plan and they've managed their time, changed habits and experience greater success both at work and at home.

So now I decided to take the plunge and help about 100,000 new people who want to redefine balance in their lives. People ask me all the time, “How do I go from an overwhelming and chaotic life to more purpose and organization and joy?”

That's the reason why I'm doing this podcast, to give you trusted answers and create a space where you could find balance. My name is Connie Sokol and welcome to Balance Redefined Radio…

[00:00] Welcome back. I'm Connie Sokol. I'm sharing another excerpt from my Life Is Too Short Collection series, a collection of humorous, life-changing essays that are from my days of being a newspaper columnist.

[00:12] This one is called focus your energy than let it go...

[00:15] Do you get through a day and feel like you've been spinning your wheels? I can tell you that my life has been like that in great measure this week because my baby will not sleep and I can't get a blessed thing done.

[00:27] Did I mention this is causing me stress? Because so much of our daily society is wrapped in business. We tend to start strong and laser beamed on Monday only to find...

[00:38] We've been putting out fires through Friday. Instead of focusing on what matters most in good to great, a fabulous book by Jim Collins. He discusses what makes good companies into great companies.

[00:51] One concept he shared was about the flywheel that as a company focuses on one major concept and then turns the wheel. No matter how long it takes to make that one turn, they should continue to turn the wheel until it creates its own momentum.

[01:10] Then the wheel will take off in flight with hardly any effort. I find the same thing for my time and energy, and as you go through your week, remember the concept of one juicy goal per week.

[01:23] That's what I teach...

[01:25] This keeps your focus on exactly what will move you forward in the thing that absolutely matters most to you. When I lose sight of that and get mired in the 56th post-it note to myself, I realize that not much is getting accomplished.

[01:42] I'm spending my precious energy on avoiding what is vital and feeling overwhelmed about the whole thing. So if you do this, stop and ask yourself, what is the most needful thing this week, this day, this minute?

[01:57] On one particular day, I had really been fretting about what to share for this particular column and since I wasn't getting anything urgent accomplished, I went with the rhythm of the day spending a good portion of it, playing with my children who were not sleeping.

[02:11] Did I mention, so I was sitting outside in the chair and enjoy the beautiful fall day, cheering my kids bike, riding from a chair can be considered plane, but still I had to be productive, so I brought out my 57th, post it note, breathe to heavy sigh and said, "Oh, what is the most needful thing to get done today?"

[02:31] And as I thought about it though, there are about 257 things that could have been chosen. I honestly could not think of anything more pressing than to write this column.

[02:41] Such a simple thought made it suddenly seem doable and everything else sort of melted away...

[02:47] Miraculously at that same moment, I kid you not, my baby became sleepy and went down for a nap. My older children came home from school, gave me loves and told me about the day, then snacks and off to build a fort.

[03:00] Unbelievably and unexpectedly, I ended up with this time to myself uninterrupted with an easy flow of, "Hey mom," from my little ones, while I type the column.

[03:12] All was right with the world. So the point is to focus your energy on the needful thing. As you do, everything else melts away for a moment in time, including your stress and opens the door to doing.

[03:27] If you enjoyed this excerpt, you can get many more on my Life Is Too Short Collection book and that is the best of the best from the Life's Too Short For One Hair Color, Life's Too Short For Linoleum, and Life Is Too Short For Sensible Shoes. It's the best of those essays and you can get them at Amazon.com.

[03:45] Search Connie Sokol or the Life Is Too Short Collection book.

You got it. Thanks for listening and remember to rate and subscribe. And if you are feeling the need for real balance in your life, get your free 3-Step Life Plan, and get started today! Just go to conniesokol.com/download.