One of the most ‘automatic’ things to do in adult life is to fall into a never-ending rhythm of activity and busy-ness. The tendency to spend several hours of several weeks in countless years trying to do this and sort that or fix those is so high that we never even notice until someone taps us to say “slow down” before we realize we have been running even when there’s no chase. If you live and work in cities like Lagos, Nigeria or New York, the situation is many times worse because living conditions on their own demands that you be on your toes at all times.

So imagine that you live 50years of your life living in one of these cities and you wake up one day to find that you have worked so hard all these years but haven’t actually made any impact despite the daily hustle. Work is good, hustling is great, but really, running around in the name of activity is not what brings success; ultimately, it is running in the right direction that does. And this is not even a matter of what city you live in after all.

Am I saying it is ideal to lounge around and not work in conditions that are less than perfect? Absolutely no. The truth, however, is that too many of these things we run around and fuss over aren’t even as important as we deem them to be. Not everything and everyone truly requires or should have your personal attention. The question to ask then, when choosing what should take your time is what will truly count in the end?

Another way to look at it is “I have a plan for where I’m going and what I want to make out of my life, which of these things and people taking my time will contribute effectively towards making my plan a reality?” Everything that answers a negative to that question is a candidate for tossing out the window.

As the world has quickly become so fast-paced, it is important that we shift from the theory of doing things the start-to-finish way where we just pick a course and start racing for the finish line with no clear path. The alternative is to have the end in mind first and determine what is useful to get you there and what is not before you begin the race.

Many things will demand your time, your energy, your emotions, your mental space, and your physical attention, often, they will all appear important, urgent even but you must tie your precious possessions (time and thoughts) to the ones that are directly leading to your destination, ultimately.

Have a wonderful week.

Embrace your Super Power.

Bidemi