Lisa Call

Deb Kirkeeide wrote the following comment on my last post (the crazy birthday party weekend for my daughter):

I’m exhausted! How do you keep such focus? And when do you have time for fun and relaxation? I admire your fortitude.

Very good question Deb. Recently I listened to the book The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey. He’s the debt free guy. While I don’t agree with all he says, nor do I like some of how he delivers his message (I think the belittling and sarcasm are way over done), he makes a lot of good points.

What struck me listening to this book was how his line:

Live like noone else,
so you can
Live like noone else.

applies to many of the choices on how I am currently spending my time. I am very busy with 2 full time careers and kids and a house, etc. I’m making choices today so in the (very near) future I can be a fulltime self supporting artist that doesn’t have to scramble for money. Those choices have me living today as very few people are willing to live: staying super focused and not having tons of time for just sitting about. I believe the pay off in the future will be well worth it.

The alternatives don’t sound very attractive to me.

1) Just work the day job and wait until I retire to make art (no way!)
2) Quit the day job and struggle for money (also not for me)

I wouldn’t object to finding a wealthy art patron that would support me but that sounds like a recipe for disaster as these types tend to have hidden agendas and I’m not good at being told how to live my life.

 
But not everyday is a day full of goals and craziness like last weekend. Today, I’ve got nothing on the todo list that I must get done. Just doing what I feel like doing cause it’s my birthday. Yay! Chocolate for everyone on me.

And next weekend - I’ve told the kids I will not drive them anywhere - I’m going to get in some studio time.

Priorities

In my series of posts on holding intent I’ve talked about some of the quotes I have on my studio wall. Here’s another related to priorities:

My Take on the Parts

What: I need to identify the specific tasks, or at the minimum the next task, that will get me to my goal. Without this breakdown of the parts it’s hard to identify the next action I should take to achieve a goal. Priorities imply that there are things to choose from, I need to identify those things.

I: There is only 1 person that is in charge of me reaching my goals - and it’s me. Taking responsibility for all of my choices and actions is a huge help in reaching my goals. It is not the internet’s fault that I waste time reading email and blogs, it was my choice. If I don’t like that choice and I can change it.

Doing: If I just sit around it’s unlikely my goals will be met.

Right Now: Worrying about the future or stressing out about the past isn’t going to move me forward. It’s when I stay in the present moment I make progress.

Closer: This is a process (and not a quick one), not a destination. Doing things gets me closer to my goals but I need to be patient and enjoy the journey, because without that the goal is rather empty. For me it’s about a life time commitment to living life one day at a time with the intention to be the person I want to be and living the life I want to have each day giving my situation in that exact moment.

Ultimate Goal: If I don’t know what I want and who I want to be, it’s kind of hard to make progress in that direction.

The Universe

On Alyson Standfield’s recommendation in January I signed up to get Notes from the Universe. I love these emails each morning as they make me smile and remind me that my thoughts do become my reality. Today’s was particularly relevant to my topic:

Where are you spending your time?