Sentiments On Common Sense

Oct 01 2008

Dispatch from the Backroom while waiting to leave for the airport: 11 ways to enjoy life!

Published by Andrew at 1:16 pm under Blogging,Digital Leadership,Principal's Blogs,communications,leadership,school communications,tech savvy teachers

If I wasn’t on vacation and relaxed, I might have lost perspective this morning.

4:59 AM- Alarm goes off. Make coffee, run bath for wife.
5:30 AM- outta shower, wake up baby and 5 year old.
6:15 AM- Load up car and family… chase cat through yard and catch him thanks to a can of Tuna.
6:30 AM- Leave for Airport to find that the flight was canceled. Rebooked on a flight at 5:00 PM!
7:15 AM- Return home….

Sigh….

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I’ve been typing a lot about reflections this past week, and as I head into my vacation (teamed with a visit to the doctor’s office in Bangkok), I thought it would be good to finish this three post theme with some advice I found on the blog “Zen Habits”. The post written by Zen Habits contributer Jonathan Mead. He shares 11 refreshing ways to bring out the awesomeness in life. These four mean something to me!

Make time for what you love. We often get burnt out because we’re busy working and attending to obligations. If we are not doing anything we’re excited about, we’ll likely start resenting our lives. It’s important to make time every day doing things you really enjoy.

Drop unwanted commitments. Just as we need to make time for doing things we love, we also need to prune the things we aren’t passionate about. Some things aren’t really negotiable. If you don’t pay your electricity bill, you will be eating by candlelight. But other so-called obligations aren’t really necessary. A good test is to ask yourself if your commitment is something that’s really adding to your life. Is it enhancing your life, or is it just adding more stress? Sometimes quitting is the best answer when simplifying your life.

Let go. Relaxation is possible. I know, it scares me too. The thought of not obsessing over all the things I didn’t get done today is often terrifying. But it’s okay. There will always be tomorrow. On your deathbed do you really think you’re going to be thinking about the to-do list you didn’t complete? I don’t think so. You’ll probably be thinking about how you wished you would have had more fun, spent more time with your family and enjoyed life more.

Embrace your inner geek. We’re all geeky about certain things. I admit that I’m a design geek. I can sit for hours obsessing over typefaces, color palates and white space. I seriously live for this stuff though, so it’s okay to obsess a little. The point is, when I design, draw, and write, I lose track of time. I embrace my inner geek and all I’m thinking about is what I’m doing. I’m not worrying about how it will turn out, I’m not thinking about the phone bill I need to pay. I’m just there. Think about what really makes you geek out. A good indicator is that it’s something you get super excited about that makes other people give you strange looks.

Reassess your priorities. Are you living for today, or solely for the achievement of your next project? Do you stress out about what’s on your to-do list more than living in the moment? If you’re at all like me, you occasionally fall into this rut as well. We have to find a balance in achievement and contentment. Sometimes it’s not about getting what you want, but wanting what you have. It’s not about achieving the completion of a project, but enjoying the process of creativity.

To be a strong leader, you must be strong and to do so you MUST take care of yourself. Above is a list of good advice points that is worth repeating over and over again and I suspect for the busy administrator out there, each one means a lot in very deep ways.