It’s the Third Quarter of 2021
And another night where I’m sitting in my shed, reminding myself that time is not linear in the sense that I can do whatever I want, in whatever order I want, and it’s all right on time. Though I may be doing at 37 what many do at 20 or 30. Who cares? I’m right on time for me.
When I feel myself spinning out (which still happens, though it is less and less these days), questioning myself and everything I am doing, I bring myself back to the systems I rely on to create a sense of order amongst the chaos that is the human condition.
Our focus can be laserlike only when we know what we are looking at, what we’re working on, and therefore what matters and what doesn’t and needs to be filtered out.
It’s impossible to make decisions that support your goals if you don’t know what they are, especially when you’re frustrated because you don’t feel like you’re making progress and some shiny object or short term gratification/relief comes along.
When my systems are being neglected, it’s pretty likely that I’m going to make decisions that move me further from my goals. I also know that its during the times that I find myself neglecting the systems that I need them the most.
Quarterly and monthly planning is a sacred practice in my life, and it has brought me peace of mind, helped me manage what was once crippling anxiety and depression, and allowed me to expand my capacity to be present and take on more responsibilities.
This week is the week for goal setting and planning for the half and for the quarter. I don’t encourage setting goals in a rigid way, but rather in an intention-focused, mapping out bite sized chunks and being very clear on what you’re working on so you don’t get distracted way.
Going back to the topic of time, we so often feel like we don’t have enough because we get distracted, and because we’re trying to do too many things all at once. We spread ourselves too thin and nothing really gets done well and to completion.
A little strategy goes a long way in having a healthy relationship to time (and everything else, too).
Many of us lean towards extremes of all or nothing, so when we start to think about our dreams, our goals and what we would need to do in order to make them happen, we also start to get overwhelmed. We think it’s just going to take way too much time or be too hard, or we’re so excited and we want to do ALL THE THINGS all at once and then we struggle to sort out the steps to make it manageable (we bite off more than we can chew and then get frustrated and irritated when we aren’t meeting our goals; looking at an actual calendar, at the actual big picture of resources like time and space and energy and money allows us to be realistic and make steady, sustainable progress. It’s the only way).
This system of reviewing & planning creates a feedback loop that trains our brains and encourages flow states.
Taking a few minutes, an hour or two or, if you’re like me, a few hours here and there over the course of about a week, to look over your next 3-6 months and see what’s going on. What do you want to experience? What would make you feel successful? How do you want to feel, and what would make you feel that way?
Mark key dates on the calendar, decide on tasks that must be completed (and give them deadlines), go over your finances where necessary, decide what you’re going to create- be realistic!- and get organized on a fundamental level. This stuff isn’t hard, but it does require making time for it and getting out of your head. It also requires making decisions and getting committed.
Get high if you want and do it. Imperfectly. Each time you do it- at the beginning of each month, you’ll ideally be doing some version of planning- you will improve. It’ll feel less overwhelming and more natural, and you will become more fluid in how you navigate the world.
Bonus points if you take a look over the last 3 months and look at all of the things you achieved (or didn’t, be honest) assess and give yourself credit where it’s due, and have a conversation with yourself about changes you’ve been wanting to make but are maybe sleeping on a little bit, or struggling with, and use this feedback as you plan for the 2nd half (2H)/3rd quarter (3Q21) of 2021.
TAKE IT EASY, BABY. YOU’VE GOT ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, BUT ONLY IF YOU’RE USING IT WISELY.
Cheers,
Kelsey