Back to Busy - Mindset & More

Back to Busy: Mindset & More

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”
? Henry David Thoreau

As we approach a new school year, our calendars are already starting to fill up. If you’re like me you may already be feeling overwhelmed and school hasn’t even started yet. Let’s stop glorifying being busy. If you aren’t accomplishing anything, then you’re really just busy doing nothing. Let’s change the narrative about “success” stories that leave us over scheduled, exhausted and unsuccessful at what really matters.

Our last Blog was about Time Management and Priorities. Instead of starting with the calendar, let’s begin in the mind. The mind is where everything begins and determines the outcome. We start with our mindset, then plan out our priorities and goals, then create the systems and habits that will help us achieve them. Without a purpose and a strong mind throughout the process, we are just busy – not productive. There is power in our thoughts – our thoughts lead to our feelings which lead to our actions which lead to the results. What result or outcome do you want to achieve? Then change your thoughts about it.

Mindset is work.  We have to train our brain much like we train our bodies to be fit and healthy – especially if we have to first untrain it from habits that aren’t healthy or serving us first. Work is work and rarely is it easy. Most things worth doing aren’t easy – but they can be simple. We don’t have to make our work complicated – usually the simplest systems are the best solutions.

There is a great saying, “Do the next right thing.” When you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, overscheduled, busy, out of balance or at a loss of what to do…Do. The. Next. Right. Thing. Take baby steps, be consistent, one day at a time, one moment at a time, one step at a time…do the next right thing for you and for others.

The next right thing – the good thing – might not be the easy thing. Actually it might be the harder choice in the moment but the better choice for the future. Just like we don’t often “feel” like working out or “feel” like have a hard conversation or “feel” like making dinner in the moment, it really is the better choice for us in the future. Again, it may not be easy, but it can be simple – and what’s best for you.

Find a community of people to help you, encourage you and hold you accountable. We were made for connection and community. We were not made to go through life – especially the hard times – alone. “You become the average of the five people you surround yourself with. We are not only what we think, but we are also defined by the people we surround ourselves with. We are the product of a complex equation in which different variables enter. Thus, one of those that have more weight in our state and definition is the one that encompasses all the people around us.

 “You are now, and you do become, what you think about.” – Earl Nightingale

 Find people that are good for you and good to you.