What is the next best step?
‘Just do the next right thing.’
What is the next right thing? Right now?
Feeling anxious, overwhelmed, stressed, distracted, excited or sad? Ask the right question to get past it.
It'll determine how to spend the next moment. 5,4,3,2,1 - Go.
How can I make best use of this moment?
Ruminate but never fret. Fretting becomes counter productive. It's never the best way to spend your time.
The path to wisdom:
Rinse and repeat.
What the best use of this day? This hour? The next 30 minutes? The next 5 minutes?
What does this moment call for?
All the sudden, you have positive options available. Pick the one the best serves you and the greater purpose right now.
Just don't fret.
Productive action makes time a friend. Inaction makes time an enemy. Time is always moving forward. How you spend the next moment will define the future that follows. It's the butterfly effect. If you miss this opportunity, will another one come around?
Overwhelmed by too much to do?
I see time as a bank account. Every time I look, more time has been deposited.
What if time was something we had to work for (and was not a given). It is.
Your time is a loan. You have to pay it back with interest.
How do you make today more valuable that yesterday? By investing your time wisely.
What's the best use of your time, right now?
Become a time multiplier.
In Procrastinate on Purpose, author Rory Vaden makes a strong case for time investment.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
The choices we make in the moment seem small. But when you add the element of time, those seemly small choices define our lives. Books like The Compound Effect and The Slight Edge amplify this concept.
How you spend the next moment is no longer insignificant. What you eat, what you read, what you think, what you say, waht you do... It's how we show up that defines our life.
Setting the tone for the day.
The Morning Miracle has become a standard for a concept that many self-help books have talked about for years. It's how you start your day that sets you up for success or failure.
The path is paved one step at a time.
Every decision, no matter how small, is a step in a direction. Life is never idle. Even when we decide not to decide, we have made a choice. As I look back at the choices I made yesterday, I see that what shows up for me today as a direct result. Every decision, like it or not, can either strengthen our foundation or weaken it.
Level Up
I striving to elevate further everyday. You do not elevate by passively sitting around. You must take swift decisive action. Contemplation is great, but when life requires you to step up, you must act. Now is a good a time as any (actually, now is likely a better time that later).
Time tends to compound the effects of our actions.
Our small actions today can have big impacts later. It's called time leverage.
Shrink or expand?
Just do the next best thing.
A kind word. A cup of coffee. A new essay. Commit to it for 30 days. What easy now will become more difficult later, and this is when you grow.
How can I make today better than yesterday?
Revisit the 5 key end-of-day questions:
Values to action.
The best next action may be inaction.
Is there something we need to stop doing? Often it's what we stop doing. Let go of?
For example: * Stop checking Facebook * Stop checking email 10x/day * Stop eating a carb rich diet * Stop watching Netflix
To make room for... * Start reading those books you never have time to get to * Starting writing a love letter to you wife (tip: )
Sometimes, it’s about choosing to put something down. Letting go. Other times, it is about listening, or taking someone’s hand.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
Want to know when it saves me the most?
When I am so exhausted that I can barely focus on anything, but I need to.
Also, when I am disappointed or upset about something. At that moment, doing the next right thing almost always involves some self-soothing and self compassion. ‘Don’t worry babe; you won’t be upset about this forever.’ Something like that.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
The good news is, even if I forgot to ask for a while, there is always a second chance. Life is kind to us like that. There are endless opportunities to make better decisions.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
The heart needs to be asked, too; not just the head.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
There are some things that are hardly ever the next right thing. Silently suffering, for example.
‘Just do the next right thing.’
Do you know what I love about it the most? It’s so full of promise.
Every moment we are alive holds the same possibility as that other moment ten years ago. Each breath taken, every thought that passes, every time we turn this way or that way, carries with it the intrinsic ability to change everything.
Just do the next right thing.