Fridays can be busy. Let’s face it, every day can be busy, defined by a list of things to get done that is so long that inevitably it turns into tomorrow’s list too.
And people talk about creating a life you love and we think, “someday, someday I hope my life will be…”
But not today. Today you have things to do.
When we talk about creating a life, it’s easy to think of some destination that is far off, that is potentially out of reach, at least for right now. Today is already accounted for with work, and family, and that home of ours that should probably be cleaned at some point.
It doesn’t have to feel that way.
You create your own life. Every single day.
Even when you are just going to work and running errands, even when we are reacting to all the outside forces in our lives.
The first step to creating a life you love is to acknowledge that you create your life for today, for tomorrow, for this weekend, not just for your “some-day future.”
It can be now. It has to be now because the future is truly only made up of todays.
Intrigued? Cautiously hopeful?
Here is the tough part. What are your 3 main priorities in your life? If you had to pick 3 things that you really want to focus on, if you weren’t distracted by all the obligations, what would they be?
Mine are health, relationships, and creating value. (Full disclosure, it took me a while to come up with those, literally days of thinking about it.)
Once you come up with yours, re-evaluate your day. Have supporting these 3 priorities made it onto your to-do list? If not, don’t panic. You are normal 🙂
If we want a life we love, a life that supports our priorities (as chosen by ourselves) we need to be intentional. We need to think about it. We need to put it on the list and put it on the list first.
Today I am off of work so you can imagine what my mental to-do list includes. That to-do list comes up first in mind as a reflexive response to the things that are already in my life. But before I jump in, I need to make my own list, a list that takes my priorities into account. We don’t want to water down the important things with lots of less important things.
So I look at my list. Health. Relationships. Creating value.
Creating my life means finding a time in my day to create space for these. It doesn’t have to be all day. It doesn’t even have to be all 3 in one day.
How can you support your priorities today? Hypothesize and try something.
Health: I texted a friend to see if she can walk. She can’t. I could make sure I drink enough water (for some reason I have stopped that). I could walk by myself (GASP).
That’s what I will do, it’s supposed to get to 30 degrees at noon and it’s sunny so I will go for a walk.
Relationships: I arranged to meet my sister for happy hour when she gets out of work. This is not a typical activity for us and if I didn’t plan it I can guarantee I would be too tired for anything at 5pm.
Creating value: Well here I am, writing to you 🙂. If I was at work, I could achieve this by really focusing on each patient that I see, intentionally connecting.
Once these things are on the agenda I can decide what else to put on. There will still be obligations. I will still have to clean my house at some point but not at the expense of my priorities, and when I do clean it, it will be out of love for myself and my family. As fate would have it, I actually like when my house is clean. But if something unexpected comes up, the priorities have to stay top of the agenda.
These priorities don’t even have to take a lot of time and can fit seamlessly into your daily routine. I can focus on relationships at work, or via text. I can take small steps to improve my health so that a year from now I have become more of the person I want to be. I can create value literally anywhere I go.
Here’s the best part. Once you identify what your priorities are and find a way to incorporate most of them into most days, your overwhelm will decrease. You will feel cared for and sustained. You will realize that every day you have created something good.
Your life will be one that you love.
If you are really struggling, reach out. I help you get out of your head and back into enjoying your life. Email me at Megan@NursingBeyondTheJob.com to schedule a time to explore working together and have you create a life you love.

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