This week’s lesson was on how will you measure your life. In the talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin, he talks about how the little things are important. Minutes are little things, and they certainly add up.
He said, “Do you take the time to remember some of the simple courtesies that are so important in relationships with others? Do you remember the smile, the compliment, the positive comment, and the word of encouragement? We should do these important little things without hesitation.”
These little things certainly cultivate a good relationship with others. Being focused on important little things when it comes to our relationship with others, God, and ourselves will result in a rewarding and successful life.
Clayton M. Christensen talked about how important it is to allocated your time and enegry to things that will benefit your life and fill your life with meaning. Some people get so focused on their careers and that they don’t spend their free time with their family or those who matter to them but they sole focus is on work. Which may lead to a highly successful career but that kind of lifestyle is detrimental to relationships and families.
He talks about the importance of what you do with your time, and having values you stick to.
One of the biggest things that stood out to me this week was Tom Kelly’s speech:
Do What You Love:
In the video he talks about the importance of doing what you love “because you’ll be better at it.”
This couldn’t be more true. If you are doing work that you don’t care about then you won’t put in the hard work that it takes to make a product or a service high quality. In comparison if you’re doing something you love that passion will show through the quality of work. By doing something you love work becomes less like work. It’s enjoyable, it becomes something you can look forward to.
He gave a powerful visualization to help you find what to do, if you don’t already know:
You have to ask yourself:
- What are you good at?
- What were you born to do?
- What will people pay you to do?
Start by writing a list of all the things you’re good at. Then write a list of what you think you were born to do. Then be realistic and ask what will people pay you to do. That last one can be a struggle for some, the ego often gets in the way of being absolutely honest with yourself.
I’ve seen this in my career where people are certain they have a product that the world wants, they put a lot of work into it and yet the product doesn’t sell. The reason for this is because it’s something that they’re passionate about but there is a very small market for it. Being honest with yourself and doing market research is a huge component for finding out what people are willing to pay for.
Tom Kelly then goes on to explain the sweet spot. This is where all these different circles intercept. Where you have found your oil, that thing in life that gets you out of bed and it also pays the bills.
If you can’t find the sweet spot then try this exercise:
Study yourself. Document when you are the happiest each day, write about what makes you happy. Then over the next couple of months or years take a look at your notes about yourself and you will see a pattern that will help you become laser-focused and able to identify that thing that you were born to do. That thing that makes you the happiest, and with research, you will be able to find a way to get paid for what you like to do.
Jeff Hawkins talked about making smarter decisions vs working longer hours.
By following Jeff’s advice you will find that you are happier in the career decisions you make. Life is all about being balanced and considering your needs and wants.
Which is why it’s important to have a clear understanding of the kind of life you want to live and what success means to you. To me it means being able to provide for myself and my daughter, it means having good and healthy relationships with those I love. So there has to be a balance between my work life and my personal life. I’ve decided that at this time where I’m a single mom going back to school, I can’t handle a full time day job. I need to have time for my daughter. I’m able to pay all our bills, while still getting to enjoy some quality time with her between work and school. This is a personal decision that doesn’t work for everyone. But everyone is different and have different priorities.
Jeff also talked about how you don’t need to work longer hours but just make better choices. If each day you make a better choice than you did the day before you are making progress in the right direction. You are setting yourself up on a successful course.
The last video that had an impact on me this week was Sharon Mays. She talked about believing in yourself and investing in yourself. She had a dream to open a business and she couldn’t stop talking about it. Her mom said, “Either do it, or stop talking about it.”
So she did it. She opened her own business and it has brought her joy and happiness in being a business owner. She invested in herself and she was able to go after her goals and dreams to make them a reality. What her mom said, really stuck out to me. Because I have often faced that decision, should I go after a specific goal is it worth it? Yes! If you can’t stop thinking about it or talking about it, then it is important and it is worth taking the risk and making smart decisions to go after that thing you want in life.
