Big Rocks

Although I'm not a big fan of Stephen Covey's writing style, I think The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has some good stuff in it. Probably my favorite idea of his has to do with rocks. When talking about prioritizing our lives, he uses an analogy about putting big and little rocks into a container. If we pour in all the little rocks first, he says, there's no room for the big rocks. But if we put the big rocks in first, then we can pour the little rocks into the extra spaces and fit in everything. Well, I'm not sure that we can, or should, put in everything, but that's another point entirely.

Last semester I spent a lot of time focusing on what I didn't want. I didn't want to be a perfectionist about school, I didn't want to spend all my time on school work, and I didn't want to be stressed and overwhelmed all semester. I worked hard on those goals and I learned a lot. Now, however, I'm seeing that I want to shift my focus to what I do want.

So now I'm focusing on putting in the big rocks first, every day. Using the Law of 3s I have identified three areas which profoundly impact the quality of my life. These are food, movement, and finances. Each day I make sure that I do my planned nanosteps in these three areas and I check in with someone when they're done.

It feels good. I feel proud of myself in a way I never have before. I feel hopeful. I feel, "yes, I can do this!" Focusing on what I want puts a positive spin on my days that is new and exciting. To quote a favorite old song by Boston, I think I like it.