How Will You Spend Your Life?

Time to read: 28 seconds

How we spend our days...

Have you ever found yourself saying something like this:

When ______ happens, then I'll _____?

When….

  • I retire
  • my children leave home
  • my aging parents move into assisted living
  • I get the promotion
  • I lose 10 pounds

Then I'll….

  • be happy
  • start dating
  • pursue my hobbies
  • start a side gig
  • do work that fulfills me

The things you think postpone having fun/doing meaningful work/being happy is never ending. Until you decide to stop waiting. Sure, when you have a full schedule of meetings or young children at home, your time and priorities are allocated differently than when you were single (cue: every blog I've ever written about choices), and it doesn't mean you have to put off what you want for some distant "someday."

One of my favorite quotes (from writer, Annie Dillard) is, "How we spend our days is how we spend our lives."

You can have more fun now. You can rekindle a hobby or start a new one anytime this week. You can take steps toward a side gig today. You can find fulfilling aspects of the job you have by looking around with new eyes.

What's one small step you can take today toward spending your life the way you want?

 

What's the Secret to Big Change?

Time to read: Less than a minute and a half.

We are freezing our arses off. This cruise ship is looking pretty good right now.

We are freezing our arses off. This cruise ship is looking pretty good right now.

Hello Rebels!

Last week, I was working with a corporate team on some... shall we call them... dynamics. They are committed to working differently and brought me in to facilitate a process to help them communicate better and create a happier workplace. The question becomes, how do you get from point A to point B when you are trying to make a change?

Many times, you try to change cold turkey. Think New Year's Resolution. Think Big Change. Think get what you want right now, this minute. Think jump straight from point A to point B. That sounds like this:

"Now I'm going to the gym every day."

"Our workplace will be happier starting today."

"I am going to change my attitude about that colleague I don't like."


The sad truth is, how many of those Big Changes stick over time, and how often do you find yourself a year later in the same situation (or worse)?

Here's what I told the team last week. Big Change happens because you commit to making a thousand Small Changes every single day. Here's a list to get you started:

  • Greet your colleagues cheerfully when you arrive in the morning rather than running for your email.
  • Eat lunch with the colleague who bugs you and commit to learning one new thing about them.
  • Express appreciation openly and consciously three times a day.
  • If you need to vent, take it outside the office.
  • Give your colleagues the benefit of the doubt and instead of getting annoyed, get curious about what is happening for them.

To the cruise ship photo above: If you turn a huge ship one degree, it will end up in a completely different country. That is the power of small changes. When added up over the course of a year, you will have created the Big Change you wanted.

Every little thing you do matters.

With rebel love,

Christina

P.S. Every little thing you do really does matter. What will you choose right now?

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