In my journey as an entrepreneur I’ve found that creating space is one of the most difficult things to do.
It’s not that I don’t want to create space for myself, my wife, my family and my friends; often I just don’t know how. I am not sure if you have experienced this in your journey, but all too often I get so busy that I do not realize that I am overwhelmed. This sense of being overwhelmed then puts me out of balance and when I am out of balance I stop creating space for myself. When I stop creating space my sense of peace and tranquility is lost. What typically tends to happen is the dominance in my personality rears its head. If we’re honest, I’m sure we all know what I mean, the loud guy, or the popular guy and in my case it’s the guy that simply doesn’t create space for others. I get too caught up in my own head space, trying to find my way back to peace. So here and now I apologize and I promise to take the easy steps that my friend Heidi showed me a few years ago to create space in a lasting way, more on that in a moment.
For me there are 2 ways I regularly “Create Space”:
- I have a morning routine that I never, ever break. It’s my essential go to that gets me ready for the day. It consists of a number of routines that involve; journaling, reading, praying (others meditate or think) and focusing on why I’m here – I personally focus on my BHAG and my Core Values.
- I plan my week with adequate up and down time. Time to nourish me, my family, my soul, my faith, my body, my relationships and to work. I do my best to say, if it was my last week on earth was it a full, grand and good week with nothing missing.
The big challenge for me is going to be to create space in 2016 on a daily basis – as Heidi calls it create an oscillating day. It’s the idea that we work best in stretches of 90-120 minutes and then to STOP. Just for 5 minutes, take a breather – smell a flower, listen to a song, have a chat, get wet in the rain — recharge and then get back at it again. In essence to give yourself a chance to breathe, to create that — SPACE — for yourself during the course of the day. So, for 2016 that is what I am going to work on — 3x a day, 3x a week I’m going to create space for me. I’m not foolish enough to think I can get to 100% right off the bat — but I bet you I can hit 9x a week 90% of the time!
I have to go now, I’ve just hit that 90 minute period — meanwhile what are you going to do to create space in your life?
