Welcome back!
If
you’re new here, what’s up!? Welcome to the party! In my last blog I challenged you to spend less time on social media to focus on developing your potential. Have you started? How’s it coming along? I know that spending less
time on social media is hard, but that’s why I made this our first CHALLENGE!
If you couldn’t start with us but would still like to join, you’re more than welcome! All the information for this challenge is in my last blog titled “How to Live Out Your Potential”.
Alright! So here we are! The second week of the New Year. How are your goals coming along? Are you still on track? Are you losing momentum? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Well, let me tell you, I experience at least two of these feelings once a week, lol!
“Developing focus and being consistent is a skill we have to cultivate. It doesn’t come naturally to anyone!”
– Tee Evans
During our limited time on earth we get 24 hours a day. What are we doing with this time? The average person spends about
- 8 hours sleeping
- 8 hours working at a full-time job/school
- Approx. 3-4 hours total travelling, cooking, eating, etc.
- Approx. 3-4 hours on leisure (entertainment, working out, socializing, etc.)
This kind of routine proves that most of us don’t know what to do with time.
To live an intentional life, we need a target. We need to envision the life we want to create and then spend our time creating it. Now, some of you are thinking, God is sovereign, He has a plan and it will happen regardless of our choices and actions because He’s all powerful. You’re partially right! He is sovereign, and He not only has a plan for us, but He also shares it with us. However, He wants our co-operation in the execution of His plan. For example, let’s say His plan for me is to travel the world teaching people how to read. If I don’t develop myself and learn how to read, will I be able to teach others? Obviously not! I must work with God to experience His plan(s), aka I must work with God to create the life He planned for me. It’s that simple.
So how do we take responsibility for our lives? By minimizing distractions, establishing prioritizes based on its level of importance to our goal(s), and creating a routine around our priorities. Here’s an example of how I do this.
Minimize Distractions:
My Samsung 6 smartphone stopped working in the last week of December in 2017. I was phoneless for about a week although I still had access to social media and my emails. During this time, I felt less of an urgency to engage with the internet world. Why? Because I wasn’t being notified/distracted by reminders every second. So, this is what I do now. When I’m working on a goal I turn my phone off which includes shutting down my email and social media and I put all my devices out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind.
Prioritize:
Every task that brings you a few steps closer to realizing your goal(s) should be your primary focus for the day. Now this is a skill that I’m currently developing. This is a hard one for me because, like many of you, I wake up with 1,001 demands every day. I’ve started planning my day the night before, but this doesn’t always work. As of late, I’ve begun to boil my list down to my top 3 most important goal oriented tasks for the day and I do them at the cost of everything else. Once I complete my top 3 task, I review the list and complete anything else I have time for. One tip for working with a schedule is, don’t deviate from it unless there is an emergency or something that desperately requires your immediate assistance. A text message is not urgent, your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend calling is not urgent, an email or social media notification is not urgent. Being alerted to a deadline you’re about to miss is urgent and requires your immediate attention. You get the picture.
Routine:
Once I have clear goals I create a routine that includes my goal(s). All this means is I take my daily top 3 most important goal oriented task and turn them into a routine. Everyday might be the same 3 goals or I might rotate them with another goal. So, let’s say my goal is to lose 10 lbs by this Spring 2018. I write down how much weight I will loose on a weekly basis (you can choose to measure it monthly) and I write down what I’m going to change to see results.
Ex: I will exercise 3 times a week, stop eating fast food, and drink water with every meal. Then I go to my calendar and schedule my exercise. After doing this for about 2-3 weeks and I start seeing results I turn it into a routine to ensure that I hit my goal.
I know these tips will bless your life because they’ve brought dramatic transformation to mine!
See you in the next one! Xoxo.
*Bonus: Many of you have shared that I offer a lot of thought provoking, soul searching, and practical life tips here on my blog. I’m glad you’re being inspired! However, I can’t let you stop there. I’ve decided to offer a Free 3-Week Mentorship Program that will stretch you & help you maintain consistent growth. If you’re ready, LET’S DO IT!
Sign Up Here! The deadline is March 7, 2018.
Also, I noticed that you guys really enjoy blog post on Thursday’s, so I’ve updated my posting schedule to reflect what you want! Now you can expect post every Thursday & Saturday!
Theresa Evans
For speaking engagement inquiries contact me at Tee.Forever@Outlook.com
Stay connected! Follow me on my platforms below.
Related
6 Comments
So so good!!! I love it!
Thanks girl!
Oh man. Once you break down time spent on social media it's pretty sobering. Thanks for this post!
You got it!
Yes, social media can certainly be a massive consumer of time, if we allow it to go unchecked. We have to learn to let it help us rather than hinder us in reaching our goals and fulfilling our potential. That can be a huge challenge unless we have a plan and strategies to implement the plan.
Exactly. We have to resist the urge to allow distractions. I'm glad you enjoyed it :).