When you dream of having and doing it all
I remember a long time ago, creating a brainstorm poster of what I wanted to achieve and experience in my life. It was a wonderful work of colour, excitement and grand ideas and dreams.
When I finished, I proudly looked at it, took a breath then immediately felt overwhelmed and disappointed as I noticed…..I don’t have enough time to do all of this! My list would have taken several lifetimes!!
Then I kind of felt crestfallen, because I really wanted to make a difference in my life and the lives of others. I feared I’d regret not fulfilling this ‘wish list’ in its entirety. I read the regret list of the 95-year-old that does the rounds on Facebook. "Don't die with regrets", it said. Then I felt really disappointed and kind of sad.
On sharing this dilemma with a wise woman about how I can realistically fit all of it into my life she said to me:
Wendy, imagine your life as a carrot patch. Your brainstorm poster here represents seeds - a lot of seeds. Now let’s say you have a patch of ground to plant those seeds. If all those seeds sprout, you will have lots and lots of carrots but they will be iddy biddy ones because there isn’t room for them to grow into big juicy carrots. The tops may have impressive bushels but underneath there won’t be substance. So you have to make a decision and commitment if you want iddy biddy carrots or big juicy ones. Then you are going to have to pull up some from the ground so the ones that are planted have the space to grow big, delicious and nutritious.”
What matters most?
This is the simplicity and magic of essentialism and minimalism.
I had to ask myself what was truly important? I recognised I was getting myself in the way. I needed to really consider what would create meaning, flow, and fulfilment. How do I choose? How do I simplify to give space for what is truly purposeful and important?
Then another question; "What do I need to let go of?" Uh oh - this is where it got hard for me. I almost didn't want to contemplate it.
Yet surprisingly, this became the easy question once I was clear on my values, what’s important, meaningful and purposeful.
My management of time, attention and presence is based on which juicy carrots to nurture and grow. Now I base decisions and actions aligned with my big juicy carrot patch of work/life
Growing your own big juicy carrot patch for work/life
If you don’t want lots of iddy biddy carrots and would like big juicy carrots, start by answering the following
- What would be the big carrots you want to nurture and enjoy?
- What can you let go of to clear the way?
- What steps can you take to nurture you and your ‘carrots’?
Add your answers below