These are the myths that keep us stuck in the middle. That crazy-making place of mediocrity, fogginess, and dashed dreams. I’m dropping some Inner Voice BombsTM (and in this post some other colorful bombs!) to explode these myths and help us all move out of the middle and into becoming thought-leaders in our own lives.
Myth #1: Not Enough Time.
Yeah, yeah, we all have 24 hours in a day.
Whatever.
You don’t know my day though. I’ve got waaaaay too much to do. And those people who are all organized and “together” and ” coachy” who send annoying reminders and inspirational pictures saying “we all have 24 hours in a day-make each moment count” can just bite me.
You think it-don’t you? Come on, admit it.
There’s something wildly exciting about being busy. It’s a rush. The coffee, tea, chocolate & sugar we consume to fuel the rush is fun too. Don’t you ever feel, well, worthless without something to do? The more to do the better. (In a rather twisted sort of way).
It’s Ok. I get it. I like to be busy too.
I get way more done.
I feel accomplished. I feel successful. I feel alive when I have lots to do.
We like to wear “not enough time” like a badge of honor. Like there is some sort of reward we’re going to get if we busy ourself into Heaven or something.
There are hundreds of articles out there talking about how to bring ‘balance’ to our lives. How to have less “busyness” in our business. Hell, I’ve even talked about that too.
It’s a crock. There’s no such thing as balance.
There is active and inactive. Action and non-action. Flowing and ebbing.
Doing and Being.
You gotta have both. Sometimes it’s more doing than being. Sometimes it’s the other way around. There. Now you’re balanced.
Next.
You’re still here? Don’t you have something to DO??
Oh yeah, I guess I never said what works for me. I was on to the next thing (sorry, I’m just crazy-busy these days.)
It really comes down to: who are you Being when you’re doing what you’re doing? ‘Cause, I got news for ya, it doesn’t look like things are going to slow down much folks.
When we are listening to the little voices (in our head and all around us) of fear, doubt, and constriction then we take action that is chaotic at best and destructive at worst.
It’s destructive because we do things and say things that make people feel as though we are just barely tolerating their presence until we can get back to what we were doing before they so rudely interrupted us with life.
Ahem. (Did I just write that out loud?)
We rush from one thing to the next, trying to keep up with the other folks in our field and every other business we keep tabs on-even the ones we don’t even eff’n like just so we can feel like we belong, like we matter, like we’re important–but most of all, so we don’t fall behind.
Behind.
Oh, I just shudder when I write that word.
Then my Inner Voice (oh so wise) asks: “Behind what?” and “Whose Behind?” (And I smile to myself ’cause she knows how to disarm me every time).
And I remember that when I’m taking action based on what my Inner Voice directs me to do, I’m still busy-but it’s a productive busy. It’s an easy-busy vs. crazy-busy of the little voices.
At a recent Power Chicks Un-networking event, we had a great discussion about the culture of busy. One of the members told us of a trip to her doctor who asked her how many functional hours she had in a day. She thought he meant how much was she getting done at work, he was referring to how many hours was she awake, from morning ’til night.
He told her to have fewer functional hours in order to prevent burnout and preserve her health. It was something I needed to hear as well.
I’ve decided to increase my number of dysfunctional hours and get more sleep so that during the hours when I am functional, I’m more likely to actually function and be productive (and a lot less snarky). 😉
Too busy for self-care, and too busy for the people and activities that matter the most in our lives is a life less-Be’d, and that’s a life where you can’t possibly escape the middle ’cause you’re too darn busy to do so.
