How much time do you spend each week on the internet, watching the television, vegging out…? (please feel free to add to the list).
Even though these activities feel good, relaxing or reassuring in the moment, how much do they add to your life? How much do they make your life exciting, meaningful, joyful and dynamic?
Did you know that one of the key actions that people who are happy and successful take is to spend 15 to 120 minutes a day on themselves.
They see it as a principle investment and as a way of demonstrating how much they value themselves. They also know by experience that the return on investment for this time is at least ten-fold. Meaning that for every 15 minutes they spend they will receive at least 2 ½ hours in return. It is part of working smart rather than just working hard. What would you do with an extra 2 ½ hours every day?
So how does that work you might ask? Imagine if you are so clear about what is important and unimportant that you simply say “no” to all the things that little-by-little gnaw away at your precious time without getting you anywhere, or if you did such a good yoga practice that it filled you with a level of energy, direction and concentration that made you 10 times more effective than normal.
There are 7 areas that people spend this time on to acquire life mastery. They are:
1. Know Yourself: Time spent on self-reflection and activities such as yoga and meditation that enable you to know your authentic self (the true, deep, eternally peaceful and dynamic you) and a deeper experience of life, rather than being caught in the expectations and values of the mass media or of the people who surround. It is important to develop and maintain a statement of purpose, vision, values, roles and objectives for your life.
2. Review and evaluate: Invest time to review and evaluate how much your life reflects your authentic self, what areas you would like to transform and to review your progress as you engage in this path of transformation.
3. Plan and set your focus: Get clear about the steps you will take to make this transformation. Ensure you take time daily to do a mental rehearsal of the actions you will take during the day, this focuses your mind and energy on what is important.
4. Understand and change your mental and emotional patterns: Use activities such as yoga and meditation to understand your mental and emotional patterns, see how they hold you back and change them to ones that support you to reach your potential.
5. Create and accomplish your personal development plan: All the highfliers that I have worked with in business have a personal and professional development plan focused on both technical and life skills. It is the bedrock that makes them highfliers. They recognise that developing their life skills (communication skills, personal effectiveness, self leadership…) is vital to their success.
6. Change your unconscious mind: Your unconscious mind drives 95% of what you do and say. Therefore if it is not in line with your authentic self you will feel like you are walking upstream in a fast flowing river. I teach people unconscious mind changing journeys and how to engage their creative imagination in order to do this.
7. Maintain your physical health, energy levels and stamina: Exercise that develops your strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness are crucial to not only maintain your physical health, but they also give you the energy to do everything else. In addition, they provide you with time to unwind, discharge stress and create a release of endorphins that creates optimism and a general sense of happiness and wellbeing.
The late Stephen Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) talked about this time for self renewal and focus as “Sharpening the Saw”. He used this powerful metaphor because no carpenter would keep working without taking the time to care for and sharpen his or her tools. However, since he wrote about this, the world has moved on and now we are in the time of precision tools. So unless you are continually developing yourself, learning, deepening your experience of life and maintaining your equilibrium, you will be left behind in our fast changing world where to master your life and the skills this involves is the key to both success and happiness.
What action will you take to spend 15 minutes on yourself today and each day?
SadaNam Kaur is an expert in professional & personal mastery, social & emotional intelligence. A pioneering coach & profesional development consultant, through integrative and accelerated learning.
She has worked in personal development and coaching for over 20 years and has supported thousands of people to take the next step in their lives, through courses and 1:1 coaching.
She was one of the first people to develop coaching in the U.K. http://howtomasteryourlife.com