Hey friendsĀ 
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Here are theĀ Doable ideas, Reflections and Mindfulness to try out this week.
Doable ideas š
Remove as many decisions as you can to free up attention. It can look like:
- Laying out gym clothes the night prior
- Meal prepping
- Writing a shopping list before going to the supermarket (and actually stick to it š)
- Setting your top 3 goals for the next day
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I start to appreciate the beauty of automation in life recently with all these little things I set up for my future self.
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More energy and attention for things I care about, and clarity to make important decisions.
Reflections šŖ
Today Iāll take care of myself byā¦
Mindfulness š§š»āāļø
Where did you pay most attention to last week?
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Lemme be more specific: which life area(s) did you focus on last week?
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Health? Career? Relationships? Recreation?
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Of course, we all dream about the perfect balance in life: good health, a fulfilling career with enough #metime and time spent with our loved ones.
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Too good to be true?
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Maybe.
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Can we have it all, at the same time?
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There is this fine line between maintaining a reasonable standard on everything vs sprinting towards a goal during a particular season.
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For example, we all know that health is the foundation of everything we do, so it makes sense to maintain it through good sleep, diet and movement. Every day. The benefits will flow across your career and relationships.
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It takes time to figure out your minimum dose of input to maintain good health (and good energy). But once you figure that out (hint: automate through habits and routines), unless you have a specific fitness goal to achieve (see below), you can set it and forget it.
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Then you can free up more time and attention to work on things that matter more to you during this particular period – whether that be building a passive income stream or taking care of family members.
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For years, I made the mistake of trying to have it all.
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You can have anything, but you canāt have everything.
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Understanding my limitation, this is how I currently allocate my time, energy and attention:
Introducing the āenergy investmentā model of project life management.
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I got the idea from Ali Abdaal and Iāve been incorporating that in my weekly and quarterly review to prioritise my projects from a birdās eye view for over a year.
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Active projects are the one you focus on the most – a.k.a. goals youāre sprinting towards during this season (however you define it – I usually check in every quarter).
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The rule is simple: focus on the āactiveā ones, automate (schedule in) the āpassiveā ones and eventually get to the ābucket listā.
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You might ask: are you spreading your attention too thin, still, with 5 active projects?
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Maybe. The good thing is I have help – Iām working with a personal trainer to work on my handstand so I donāt actually think too much about it: I attend the weekly session, squeeze in another workout during the week doing whatever she asked me to do, thatās it. I could have invested in a language coach or a YouTube course if I wanted to achieve my goals faster, but well.
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Set out what you have to do, and check in every week to see if youāre actually spending appropriate time on what you said you would do.
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Your attention will shift when you start to see clearly where you are at and where you want to go.
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Bonus tip: I find it helpful to have a concrete end goal for each project. Donāt just write āimprove healthā. Write āimprove VO2max by X% by the end of Sepā, or āmaintain average calorie intake of 1,800kcal for 3 monthsā etc.
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I have specific goals and deadlines for each project – even for fitness and language learning.
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TL;DR: directing your attention is a form of mindfulness.
Ideas Worth Pondering š§
“Highly focused people do not leave their options open. They select their priorities and are comfortable ignoring the rest. If you commit to nothing, youāll be distracted by everything.ā
– James Clear
If you enjoyed that, please share with others.
Whenever youāre ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
- Claim your peace of mind with these handpan guided meditation soundtracks.
- Work 1:1 with me to improve your health and wellbeing with music therapy. No waiting list!
Be awesome x
Venus