Making every day count

 

I really care about making every day count. I don’t know where this has come from, but I have always been like this. It is a huge motivational force because I don’t like to waste time. I am always doing stuff.

The idea that every day there is a little action you can take that will bring you closer to your goal resonates for me. Where I saw the benefit of this approach was a huge home renovation project I took on in my 40s. At the beginning everyone told me not to bother, that the end would not justify the work and money needed to get there, but over about 9 years I did it, one step at a time as the money became available. Sometimes it wasn’t about the money when I had to pay for outside expertise, but just about my own graft and application – hour after hour of pain staking paint stripping to reveal beautiful old wood. This has taught me that you can make some dreams happen. My home is absolutely and totally my castle.

I regularly review my life to check that I am doing the things that are most important to me. I have learnt that there is no ‘perfect’ time to do anything, like have children for example, but I did that. I did my VSO experience in my early 50s and I am glad I did it then because I am not sure I have the same physical and emotional resilience now as I had at that point. I had my horse in spite of opposition. If I am not happy in a job I have always moved.

The South Indian astrologer I met last year told me I would live until I was 70. Whether this turns out to be true or not is irrelevant. The fact is, if I have 14 years left, what do I want to spend those 14 years doing? Obviously I still have to work, but where do I want my other priorities to be?

Most recently I was dictated a funeral eulogy by one of my closest friends who has terminal cancer. There was very little mention of work. It is always said, isn’t it, that we never think about work on our deathbeds. We think of the people we have loved and happy experiences.

 

When I am folding up letters to do mail outs, I listen to inspirational videos. J1 introduced me to all this. Ted Talks are good, but try ‘unbroken’ or indeed anything by Mateusz M.