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Scarcity or Abundance …

Where’s Your Focus for the Coming Year?

"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time.
Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
--M. Scott Peck, M.D.  

The biggest complaint I hear these days is that there just isn’t enough time in the day.  I hear this even more often than I hear people complain about not having enough money!

Why is it that some people seem to have enough time and money -- regardless of economic status -- to manage everything that is most important, and yet others never seem to have enough, no matter what their circumstances? 

Scarcity is not the issue.  With time, we all get 168 hours per week.  What makes the difference is how we prioritize the use of our resources. 

At various points in my life, I’ve been known to complain about not having enough time or money.  What I’ve come to realize is that I get what I focus on.  (Click here to read more about how this works.)  If I focus on not having enough – enough time, enough money, enough anything -- that’s what I get…not enough!  The truth is, I do have enough time and money for what matters most, if I choose to focus the resources I have on what’s most important.

Remind yourself of this truth:  Every time you say YES to someone or something, you are saying NO to someone or something else. 

Here’s a powerful question to ask yourself regularly:  "What do I choose to say YES to today?"  It's a simple question that will have a profound impact on how you spend your time and money. 

Now for true confessions …  In 2005 I did not make much time for exercise.  Of course, I had good excuses as to why I didn’t have time…I had a full slate of clients, I was out of town a lot, I had some major family events that needed attention, and the list of excuses goes on.  The truth is, I did not make exercise a priority.

Here’s how I intend to get back on track with what’s most important to me for 2006:

• I am taking some time in early January for a personal retreat – time to step back and look at the “big picture” so I can clarify my priorities and goals for the year.  In other words, I need to be crystal clear about what I choose to say YES to.

• I am recommitting myself to schedule time for what’s most important.  I realize that unless I reserve time in my weekly schedule, important and non-urgent activities (like exercise) will remain on the back burner. I am not suggesting that you schedule every minute of every day...simply that you schedule what is MOST important.  That way, if nothing else happens, at least you have made time for your priorities.  (Having unscheduled time is important, too!)

• I choose to say NO to activities that are less important so I can say YES to what’s most important.

Are you ready to have an abundance of something in your life?  Are you ready to say YES to something that has been on the back burner?  Take note of what you are giving attention to right now.  Is that what you choose to focus on?  If not, what do you choose to focus on instead? 

A 2004 Rubbermaid study found that the top three New Year's resolutions are to lose weight, save money, and get organized.  By the third week in January most people already feel defeated and give up. A key reason why many fail --  they do not have specific actions built into their schedule! 

Focus your thoughts, your words, and your actions on what you choose to have MORE of in your life, and you will be amazed at the results.  In other words, identify how you choose to enhance your life vs. what's broken and needs fixing .  One of the best ways to do this is to get clear about your intentions and then plan time to follow through with the action steps you've identified.  I call these choices (some call them goals) and actions.

Here's an example...

If I say I want to lose weight, I am focused on what I don't want -- excess weight.  If I say I choose to have vibrant health, then I can identify action steps to support my choice.

"Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. 
If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do.  Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward."                                           -- Napoleon Hill

Ask yourself these questions to help you get clear about what you choose:

• How do I define success NOW?  Step back and assess the big picture.  What are your goals or intentions for the coming year? Are you at a different place in your life than where you were 5 or 10 years ago? Perhaps you’ve outgrown an old definition of success that you’ve been trying to live by. Write down how you define success today and what’s most important to you now. Click here to access a planning tool that will help you clarify and focus on your priorities for the coming year.

• What do I choose to say YES to this year?  Create a list of what you choose to be, do and have more of in your life.  Then prioritize what you’ve written down after you have finished making your list. Again, the planning tool mentioned above will help you with this.

• What am I ready to let go of in order to attract more of what I choose? You have a limited amount of energy and time available to invite new opportunities into your life. It may be time to let go of whatever is holding you back in order to free up time and energy for what you want to have more of.  What are you ready to let go of?  (This may include activities, thoughts, relationships, or tangible items in your environment.)

• What new systems do I need to have in place to eliminate the stress that may come with achieving greater levels of success? Can you automate repetitive processes, or organize and de-clutter so you can find important information with ease?  Read my October article, which contains suggested tools to help you increase productivity.

• What additional support will I need? Are you limiting yourself based on your ability to delegate? You cannot be all things to all people.  You cannot do everything yourself.  Without someone else to handle the tasks you no longer enjoy or have time for, you'll have a tough time inviting more success. Identify what you will delegate so you have more time and energy to attract what you want to have more of.   Read The Fine Art of Delegation if you’d like some help with this.

• How do I need to grow personally to handle the next level of success? Will your current level of self-esteem allow you to accept or create more abundance? Are you disciplined enough to pass up “good” opportunities for “great” ones? Can you get comfortable with disappointing others when their priorities are not aligned with yours and you need to say no? Do you need to get more organized in order to handle additional responsibilities?  

Get ready to step outside of your comfort zone as you stretch and grow into your new levels of success!  When you get clear about what you are committed to doing to make it happen, you will attract abundance in a way you never thought possible!

In closing, I came across this quote several years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.  It’s about our relationship with scarcity and abundance in our lives…

"If we let go of what we're trying to get more of, which we really don't need, it frees up reserves of vitality to make a difference with what we have. When you make a difference with what you have, it expands. This applies to love, to time, to relationships -- and, of course, to money. If you sit down and make a difference with the money that you have, you will find that your experience of it expands, and you don't have that focus on scrambling to get more of what you don't really need -- which is what most of us are so busy doing that we don't even notice who we are and what we have. By contrast, the context of sufficiency is making a difference with who you are, what you have, and knowing that it's whole, complete, and exactly enough. It's perfection."

--Lynne Twist