If you haven’t read Knowing is Not Enough Part 1 – click here to go to the beginning of this post.
The beginning on my Oprah AHA Moment …
Last fall I presented a concept called Incremental Marketing on a Micro Budget – and one of the Key Factors is that you have to schedule a priority time EVERY BUSINESS day to work on the marketing for your business. As entrepreneurs we will always find a way to take care of the “fires” that happen: employee’s calling in sick, vendor issues, customer service problems, technical glitches, a sick child at school, flat tires, etc. At some point – our day becomes consumed with firefighting (the small rocks) and not with proactive action in marketing and growing our businesses.
On Monday, as I explained this concept to a friend, it hit me that the same thing is happening in my personal life – and maybe yours. I have been so caught up in providing for my family and in service to others, I haven’t truly made providing for myself an URGENT PRIORITY. I am not talking self-centered it’s all about me, me, me. I mean just in the basics like a hot meal – that isn’t in a wrapper – served at a table – without a computer in my face. In fact a new goal I am working on is to eat my meals without the laptop open. To actually take 15 minutes to stop and chew without working on something.
My coach – who doesn’t let me get away with much – said to me yesterday, as I paraphrase. ‘Not to minimize the progress of your eating a meal without your computer, but really should that be such a major accomplishment?’ OUCH! Not because of what she said, but because it was true. Boy, if allowing myself a reasonable time slot to consume a healthy meal is so hard – what is trying to exercise going to feel like?
It feels like a mountain.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t “tried” to be healthier and look after myself – in fact, I have probably tried 10 or 20 different “things” in the last 10 years, and still I have gotten the same results. I am heavier, more tired, overwhelmed and at times feeling incredibly “under accomplished”. This is no pity party – by any means – it is just a true look in the proverbial mirror. An authentic look.
That mirror is sometimes a hard place to look for me – not the physical mirror – but the mental one. See, KNOWING that something is IMPORTANT, is not the same as setting it as a PRIORITY and behaving like it is important. I consider myself lucky that I learn quickly, but learning is not doing, learning is only knowing, and knowing is not enough.
At what point do I make that shift from important to important and urgent? It’s not until we are so pissed off with where we are that are willing to make that change. The pain of going back has to be greater than the pain of where we’re going. I think that pain is here for me. My coach suggested getting a “big rock” as a physical, visual reminder – and writing my name on it to remind me that I have to put myself and my health as an important priority.
The reason I want to have a mobile lifestyle and be a roaming entrepreneur is because of my Mom. She worked really, really hard her entire life. She worked for the same company for nearly 30 years, she retired at 63, within a few months became quite ill. At 64, Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer and spent the remaining 2 1/2 years of her life fighting the disease. I respect and admire my Mother for everything she did for me, but I don’t want to Work, Get Sick, Die. I want to work, live, enjoy, live, work, thrive, travel and live to be a healthy, vibrant 115 years old and die in my sleep. Perhaps the magic will be in the authenticity and accountability of sharing this with you.
I have to go find a rock now and write my name on it. I’ll post a picture when I have it.
Meantime, as always we love your comments and feedback. Feel free to post them below – or even share your big rock challenges, too.
