As I was writing today’s date on my journal I thought about this amazing quote by Gretchen Rubin “September is the other January”. I read it in her book “Happier at Home” a few years ago and loved it ever since.
Gretchen Says:
“September marks the start of a new year, with the empty calendar and clean slate of the next school cycle. Even if you are no longer in school yourself, September nevertheless remains charged with possibility and renewal.”
Have you had a fire-in-heart-setting conversation lately?
This was my experience yesterday when I met 9 members of the Sunrise Winners group I’ve been leading for a while to wake up early and build morning routines that will serve them to win their day. We spent more than 2 hours talking about our morning habits and what’s working for us versus what’s not. We gave each other action points to work on to fine tune our routines or move a goal we were trying to achieve, and we will use the group for accountability.
The best part about this meetup was having a genuine shared interest; to wake up early to take care of ourselves before taking care of our world, be it a family, school, a career or a side business. I left the meeting feeling a charge like no other. I told my own accountability partner about it, and she promised me she will often remind me this is one of my favorite activities to elevate my state and that connection with like-minded people pushes me forward.
This feeling reminded me of this post I wrote before.
I wish you such flames of high energy, dear reader.
In order to be great at the thing that matters most. We can’t do it all.
Yesterday I shared about my whiteboard, a key element in my office that inspires me.
Today, I will share what I also keep at my desk in front of me at all times:
On cardboard paper:
On post-it notes:
Since writing my ritual steps on post-its last month I’ve been committing to them more. In addition, I set an alarm 30 minutes before workday end to remind me to start my shutdown ritual and leave on time.
I hope you find this helpful to you.
“Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing.”
-James Clear
I love this idea so much by James Clear in Atomic habits. Reading it for the first time was a lightbulb moment for me. I do love my motion so much. I spend so much time planning and tracking. Being aware of the difference, however, helped me realize I may be acquiring clarity but not actually making progress towards my goals.
This week, after a super first quarter of the year, I gave myself permission to enjoy motion only. I spent my mornings doing the first quarterly review of the year on 2 different planners, mind you, plus re-thinking and re-writing of my goals for the second quarter, and simply reading. I did not record a new podcast episode. I did not create a mid-week post for Instagram. I just enjoyed the motions.
This on-purpose break is the exact thing I needed. I’ll make it happen more often, maybe this is how each quarter should actually start. As a result, I am definitely feeling more ready to jump into action again.
You broke your diet?
You binged on social media and Netflix?
You yelled at your kids again despite your intentions to be a calmer parent?
You stopped meditating?
You stopped working out?
You gossiped again?
You stayed up way too late?
You slept in way too late?
You let your books collect dust?
You broke the chain of your new daily habit?
You checked your phone first thing in the morning?
You did not do what you said you would?
You let the gas tank go empty?
You went to bed with makeup on?
You did not return that phone call?
You kept picking up your phone while with family?
You kept picking up your phone in your focused session?
You got the gift last minute?
You forgot to drink water?
You postponed that task one more time?
Good! Now you are aware this is not what you want.
Forgive yourself and simply recommit.
That is the beauty of a new day.
Note: Michael Hyatt uses the term preview not review on purpose because in this practice we are not just reviewing the past, we are also preparing for a better week ahead based on the insights we gain. So without further ado here it is:
The Weekly Preview Practice according to Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt.
Today I wrote my work goals for the year on a white cardboard paper to keep them on my desk visible to me all the time like |I did last year.
I spent the first 6 weeks of the year analyzing and reporting last year’s performance and preparing for a kick off meeting presenting all my findings. Now that this task is done I’m back to working on my objectives for the year. Seeing them written in front of me reminds me of my priorities and keeps me focused.
Continue reading “Keep Your Goals Visible”Austin Kleon beautifully quoted his friend on twitter saying “We expect too much from January, and not enough from February” and said we need to change this perception. I thought this was so accurate.
This year, however, I’m already expecting a lot from February after I designed January 2021 around quiet reflection and past year review. I’m planning to start working on my goals and implement the insights I had in February. Winter break for kids is going to be over very soon so my morning and evening routines will change with this and the end of online schooling (for now). Let’s all make the best of this lovely short month. Let’s really start walking the talk. As James Clear says in Atomic Habits quote below: Less motion, more action.
When you’re in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outline twenty ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that’s action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action. Sometimes motion is useful, but it will never produce an outcome by itself. It doesn’t matter how many times you go talk to the personal trainer, That motion will never get you in shape. Only the action of working out will get the result you’re looking to achieve.
– James Clear
I finally selected my mantra for the year 2021.
I have been choosing a word of the year for 2 years now and this year I decided to choose a mantra.
My word of the year 2019 was Teach because I wanted to start sharing what I learn through weekly instagram videos. My word for 2020 was Clarity which I was seeking through three pillars inspired by the book Clarity First, mindfulness, questions and self-care.
I couldn’t choose just one word for 2021 as I have been thinking about several themes to live this year.
One of the themes is The Practice, which is committing to my creative practice day in and day out as Seth Godin so brilliantly explained in his latest book with the same title. My practice for this year is going to be writing. I want to take my writing very seriously and hone this skill by committing to daily writing on this blog starting Feb 1st 2021. Writing more can only improve my podcast and my learning capabilities because writing will help me synthesize the information I’m consuming.
Another theme I’m thinking about is Life of Focus based on the amazing course I enjoyed by Cal Newport and Scott H. Young. I have been fascinated by the ideas in this course which you’d be familiar with if you listened to Cal’s podcast or read his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism or Scott’s book Ultralearning. In this course Cal and Scott defined focus as “The ability to guide your attention in ways you desire, not just following the random tugs of the environment.” I believe that our attention is one of our most valuable and limited assets and that’s why I have started my year with the digital declutter challenge. I believe that we need to be stingy with how we spend our attention and that improving our focus is a skill we can learn through practice. Here is this word again.
I have also been trying to commit to tracking my deep work (focused) sessions at work and keeping a tally of them as advised by Cal over and over. Deep work session are 30-minute intervals where I focus solely on one task which requires mental effort, no task switching, no glancing at my email inbox or God forbid my phone. This year I want to contribute more value with less time. Committing to such sessions will improve my focus muscles and my attention quality and help me exaclty do that.
I’ve been also wanting to better redirect my attention to the present moment where life happens after completing The Power of Now Book discussion series (Arabic) in 2020. This way I will feel more alive. My family will feel my attention with them too as I practice being present. My morning meditaiton practice will support that. My improved digital wellbeing -after the digital declutter challenge ends and implementing the rules I’ll set moving forward- will create strict boundaries between family time and work time. I also recently realized that my social media time is work time. I’m not there to scroll. I’m there to share my work that I do here in my blog and in my podcast. It’s not ok to work during family time. It’s not ok to do it when I’m at my 9-5 job. I’d better start setting proper work hours for my personal creative work including my social media.
Practice Focused Attention
What about you? Have you chosen your word/mantra of the year? It’s such a beautiful exercise, here are some resources to help you that I shared in my newsletter.