“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” – Albert Camus
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Have you ever thought about the freedoms that you enjoy? Have you ever contemplated all of the opportunity and advantages we have over previous generations? Have you given any thought to the amount of time-saving technology that we now have access to?
I used to have to use a Thomas Guide to figure out where I had to go when I worked in Los Angeles. Now, I simply type in an address to my phone and it tells me where to go. I used to carry my daily plan, hand-written, and barely legible. Now, my to-do list is on the cloud, accessible by any device I can get onto. I used to carry around a bulky notepad to the gym. Now, I enter all my lifts into an app on my phone. The time savings that these applications provide are staggering when I consider what I used to have to do.
Think about the access you have to books, magazines, radio, music, movies, television shows, and sporting events. If you wanted to, you could literally own a phone and be able to get everything was done that used to take so much time. Think about your contacts. Your phone never forgets a phone number, an appointment, or what you must do today.
But there’s a dark side. With so much entertainment at our fingertips, it is easy to get carried away with video games, movies, and all the social media apps that are available. We must make conscious decisions about what we will do and what we will not do. For some, this is challenging. They waste their lives playing video games for hours and get nothing done. They surf YouTube for hours without reading, writing, or learning. They watch hours of television and for some reason can’t squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise. The list goes on and on.
We have the freedom and access to pursue whatever goals we set for ourselves. We also have the freedom to waste untold hours of time, doing absolutely nothing but staring at a screen.
Take some time today to really analyze what you do. Seriously. Write down what you do today in 15-minute increments. I think you’ll be shocked by the amount of time that you waste daily. How do you turn it around? The first step is setting goals.
Set a few goals. Your goals could be in four areas of your life. Set a spiritual goal. Set a learning goal. Set an exercise goal. Set a social goal. Don’t go crazy, just pick one goal in each of these areas. Then, figure out how you will attain the goal. Start small. Pick something you can dedicate time to each day. Maybe you’d like to pick up meditation. Perhaps learning a new language would be something you’d be interested in. What would you like to do for exercise? Is there a relationship you’d like to cultivate?
Start with these four areas and pick something you’d like to do. Schedule the activities you have for improving these four areas into your calendar or time-planner. Don’t miss a day pursuing small amounts of progress for each one. You will be absolutely amazed at the results.
With the freedom we have, we can either do great things or waste our lives. The more freedom we have; the more rope we have to hang ourselves. Don’t be a social media addict. Don’t be a binge watcher. Don’t be a video game addict. All of these will result in a wasted life. Instead, pursue something that will build a great life. Read, write, meditate, spend time with loved ones, exercise. Learn something new each day. This is your life. Make it a productive, service-oriented, fulfilling one.
Until next time…
Dave
