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28 June 2009
Posted in
Spring Into Action: Shed That Winter Cloak!
We’ve heard it said that people spend 90% of their waking time on auto-pilot and only 10% of this time thinking deliberately. In other words, it’s 90% execution and only 10% planning. If this is true, our planning better be accurate in order to stand half a chance of executing properly… which in itself can be challenging day-to-day.
Let’s think about this for a moment. And let’s even say the ratio is off a little and that we actually spend more than 10% of our waking time in planning mode. Perhaps it’s actually 15%, or maybe even 20%, or perhaps even 25% for some of us. It’s still a small number of planning hours in comparison to the number of execution hours. And it still suggests we should ensure our strategic planning is sound, smart, deliberate and in keeping with our goals and ethics, so that our living is… intentional.
Intentional living sounds simple enough. But in the busy landscape of life, we often don’t take the time to smell the roses of our heart and ponder what we really want. One need look no further than at statistics of people who enjoy their work vs. those who don’t, or at figures reporting overall life happiness to observe that there is probably some truth to the suggestion of a lack of intentional living. After all, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” (from Alice in Wonderland)
How many of us set S.M.A.R.T. goals, which are “Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely”? And of those of us who do, how many check in after the prescribed time to determine whether goals have been met and what new course, if any, needs to be taken?
Ohhhh… you’re not so formal in everyday life you say? You don’t have to be. The goal can be as simple as saying: “I am going to retire my car; walk more for my health; take the bus; and join CarShareHFX in case I do need transportation; and I am going to do so by the end of the spring.”
Living intentionally can be as formal or as informal as your personality dictates and tolerates. You can signal your intent to: “only buy fair trade coffee, chocolate, sugar, tea and bananas from now on.” And that can be as informal as it gets for you. And you will be on a new and intentional path. Or you can create a weighted critical path matrix of how, when, where, why, and how many times you will exercise; eat organic food; use natural medicine; buy Fair Trade; act with the planet in mind; help in your community; and more, for the entire year. And for you, that will be the more formal and detailed plan you need to springboard yourself into your new and intentional way of life.
Whatever degree of formality you choose, think about living intentionally. Shed the winter cloak of your mind and open it to the possibilities that present themselves during this season of rebirth, during spring, and every day.
As we say in our Green Halifax guide ad: “Stop! Think! Choose wisely!” Spring into action. And live intentionally.
If you’re looking for some ideas or inspiration on how to do so, here are a few:
- Learn about our Everyday Heroes™ Near & Far, in the Spring Guide or past guides (Holiday & Winter Heroes).
- Take our Green Bootcamp Challenge or adopt our Everyday Environmentalist for Spring Suggestions.
- Ponder "Misconceptions: Local, Green, Organic & Fair Trade" in Let’s Talk Turkey from our Winter Guide
- Adopt Resolutions from our Holiday Guide
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