Some months ago one of the men in our church study group told some ridiculously funny thing he had done. In his sweet, boyish way he followed up his story with the statement, “Sometimes I get stuck on stupid.”
We went around the circle, and each shared a story. I don’t recall what the topic was. I only remember that when it came my turn to speak, I told the group of how driven I have been my entire life. I would always push, write goals, and work hard. In my professional career I took great pride in teaching others to write goals – with deadlines and clear action steps. Push, push, push. Knowing what I know now, I am embarrassed to think that perhaps I was not teaching the right thing. I did an excellent job of leading by example…doing exactly what Esther & Jerry Hick teach us NOT to do –paddling upstream. “Life is not meant to be hard,” they say. “Let go of the oars.”
Interesting that the very next day I opened my e-mail and found an article Living by the Golden Dozen by Tom Hopkins. Sensitized by the experience from the previous day, I mentally challenged the words as I read the concepts in the article:
Consciously repeat these four steps, minute by minute, until they become second nature:
1. Tell yourself, “I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment.”
2. Decide what the most productive thing is.
3. Do it.
4. When you’ve pushed as far forward as you can right now, go back to Step
1 and start over.
I thought, “Oh no, not another resource teaching people to push upstream!” However, my anxiety melted some when I came to these words:
“But don’t become a fanatic. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do at a given moment is to sit down with your favorite person and spend an hour watching the sun go down. Sometimes the most productive thing possible will be exercising, sleeping, or taking a well-deserved vacation.”
And then I recall the words of Doreen Virtue in the movie You Can Heal Your Life:
“Follow the guidance you get, one step at a time. If you take Step A, then you get the next set of instructions. Then take Step B, and so on.”
Earlier this week I listened to a teleconference in which the speaker attributed part of her success to following the advice of author Jim Horan in his book The One Page Business Plan. She said, “It is critical to have a plan for your business. It shows the Universe that you are serious.” Hmm, my first thought is, how does one define “‘success”? I suppose out of curiosity I’ll see what that book has to say.
This thing about writing goals has become a sticking point for me. Should I be setting “goals?” And how do I know the “goals” I am setting are the right ones? How do I know that I am not just being stuck on stupid again?
For now my “goal” is to simply focus on what seems most important at the moment…remembering to enjoy the moment, whatever I am doing.
