Come to grips with life’s reality
Instructions
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Get a pen and paper.
You can also just grab your journal, where you can securely store your answers. -
Go to a quiet room where you can reflect and think peacefully.
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Write down your answers to these five questions:
-Where in your life or your work are you currently pursuing comfort when that’s called for is a little discomfort?
Pursuing what is important to you entails facing discomfort. So you tend to make anxiety-avoidance choices, such as procrastination, distraction, etc. But if this discomfort will help you grow as a person, you must embrace it willingly.
- Are you holding yourself to, and judging yourself by, standards of productivity or performance that are impossible to meet?
It's impossible to become so efficient that you can handle unlimited demands. That's why you need just to pick a few meaningful tasks to engage in.
-In what ways have you yet to accept the fact that you are who you are, not the person you think you ought to be?
At a certain age, you will realize that no one really cares about what you're doing except you. Thus justifying your existence or asking for validation from someone is both futile and unnecessary.
- In which areas of life are you still holding back until you feel like you know what you’re doing?
Recognizing that you may never feel like you know what you're doing – like everyone else – can free you from feeling conscious about your performance, encouraging you to start implementing bold plans.
- How would you spend days differently if you didn’t care so much about seeing your actions reach fruition?
The quest for time mastery stems from thinking that how we use our time is measured by its results. The other, more gratifying option is to devote your time to projects that won’t be completed within a lifetime, such as parenthood, community-building, etc. This way, you won't have to spend your life just trying to make a legacy or be remembered. -
Regularly review your answers.
This will remind you of your limitations and how to make the most out of your finite time.