In my first blog, I glamorized the power of saying “NO (thanks)”! I want to come back to that idea to clarify that mentality. Saying “no” is a powerful thing and can be used in either a promising way or a detrimental way.
The types of things to say “no” to are those that are unimportant in your life. What is unimportant is very arbitrary for each person. Everyone has their criteria to deem what is important or unimportant. Once they determine their criteria, “no” should only be said for everything in the unimportant bucket.
For example, I have personally deemed TV time and social media as unimportant. Those are clear cut cases to me. Less clear case examples would be travel, most social outings with friends, and my favorite pastime of playing video games to name a few.
On the other hand, things that are important to me I can break down into four major categories: sleep, exercise, family relationships, and healthy eating. Looking over that list, pretty much everything is contributing to what amounts to a healthy lifestyle. Focusing entirely on these categories is extremely difficult, but the path is determined.
Having a quest for Boredom has helped to ensure I say on that path. By saying NO to most detours, it makes YES so much easier. But staying on track wasn’t enough since there is a difference between meandering down the path and power walking down that same path. So I set out building projects focused on these categories.
To dig deeper, let’s take a look at sleep. Everyone knows how important getting enough shuteye is yet America is a sleep-deprived nation. I’m naturally a night-owl, but as I age, I’ve learned to appreciate being an early birder. Accomplishing an entire day's worth of before most people even wake is refreshing. But wakeup time nor hours of sleep is enough. Consistency is key, something I struggle with the most. My old routine was to sleep fewer hours on the weekdays and play makeup on the weekends. That was never very efficient though. As I enter my late thirties, I can notice those inefficiencies having a more significant impact. Therefore, I now have a single bedtime and wake time seven days a week.
Being that waking up AND going to bed early consistently is not natural for me, Boredom helps me achieve this goal. When I say NO to the majority of the distractions in my life and focus on saying YES to the major categories, I can go to bed fulfilled most nights feeling like I made an impact that day.
This particular sleep goal is now “done.” Defined, tracked, and 30 days completed. I break the habit occasionally for a day or two, so I have to stay diligent, but as every week goes by, it’s becoming more of a foundation for my life.
The same thing was applied to exercise and to building stronger individual relationships with each member of my family along with a family relationship with all. I haven’t tackled food yet, but I’ll be starting that soon.
Replacing "NO" with "YES" to what matters most has become an empowering decision.
(Written 2019.01.16)
The types of things to say “no” to are those that are unimportant in your life. What is unimportant is very arbitrary for each person. Everyone has their criteria to deem what is important or unimportant. Once they determine their criteria, “no” should only be said for everything in the unimportant bucket.
For example, I have personally deemed TV time and social media as unimportant. Those are clear cut cases to me. Less clear case examples would be travel, most social outings with friends, and my favorite pastime of playing video games to name a few.
On the other hand, things that are important to me I can break down into four major categories: sleep, exercise, family relationships, and healthy eating. Looking over that list, pretty much everything is contributing to what amounts to a healthy lifestyle. Focusing entirely on these categories is extremely difficult, but the path is determined.
Having a quest for Boredom has helped to ensure I say on that path. By saying NO to most detours, it makes YES so much easier. But staying on track wasn’t enough since there is a difference between meandering down the path and power walking down that same path. So I set out building projects focused on these categories.
To dig deeper, let’s take a look at sleep. Everyone knows how important getting enough shuteye is yet America is a sleep-deprived nation. I’m naturally a night-owl, but as I age, I’ve learned to appreciate being an early birder. Accomplishing an entire day's worth of before most people even wake is refreshing. But wakeup time nor hours of sleep is enough. Consistency is key, something I struggle with the most. My old routine was to sleep fewer hours on the weekdays and play makeup on the weekends. That was never very efficient though. As I enter my late thirties, I can notice those inefficiencies having a more significant impact. Therefore, I now have a single bedtime and wake time seven days a week.
Being that waking up AND going to bed early consistently is not natural for me, Boredom helps me achieve this goal. When I say NO to the majority of the distractions in my life and focus on saying YES to the major categories, I can go to bed fulfilled most nights feeling like I made an impact that day.
This particular sleep goal is now “done.” Defined, tracked, and 30 days completed. I break the habit occasionally for a day or two, so I have to stay diligent, but as every week goes by, it’s becoming more of a foundation for my life.
The same thing was applied to exercise and to building stronger individual relationships with each member of my family along with a family relationship with all. I haven’t tackled food yet, but I’ll be starting that soon.
Replacing "NO" with "YES" to what matters most has become an empowering decision.
(Written 2019.01.16)
