“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” Socrates
Does this exchange sound familiar: Someone asks, “How are you?” Someone responds: “I’m fine, just really busy.”
You’re probably smiling right now because, at some point today, you had this conversation. Maybe even several times. The demands of modern life sort of require it as you juggle your family, career, social and civic responsibilities, obligations, and desires. And let’s not forget the inevitable conflicts that certainly arise from time to time.
Many of us thrive on being busy. After all, when you’re busy, you’re getting important sh*t done, right?
Being busy is often a retort I get from clients when we discuss how they are managing their choices around money. And, “being busy” has many faces. For example…
- They don’t track because it feels like too much effort.
- They don’t initiate that uncomfortable conversation with their mate because they are waiting for the “right” moment.
- They focus on the choices they need to make today but put the strategic decisions on the back-burner, deferring that action until a later date in time. (One that rarely arrives.)
Do you notice a pattern? It’s not that they are too busy to track, to talk and to plan. There’s just a disconnect between what they say are priorities and their actions.
Being busy is an unavoidable fact of life, so I’m not a busy basher. But you and I should be careful not to worship at the alter of busy-ness – especially the kind of busy that leaves you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out. It’s a major error to confuse this with the type of busy that leaves you feeling productive, accomplished and energized.
The former is costly physically, emotionally, and psychically. And for all of these reasons, this kind of busy can get in the way of your financial success.
While the latter has the exact opposite effect. It can increase your focus; give you clarity; and save you time. It aligns your priorities with your actions. And, it can positively impact the condition of your finances.
I don’t have a name for the latter kind of busy. So, let’s have fun and borrow from the Slow Movement and call it: slow busy.
Create your own slow movement
There’s slow food, slow travel, slow teaching, slow parenting. Why not “slow busy?” With it, you’re still busy – just differently. And the tool that helps you with this are your… habits!
Habits don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve!
Habits help you slow down at the right time, in the right way. They keep you focused and in the flow. They help you to be proactive rather than reactive. They help you create tomorrow’s financial success with today’s choices.
You know how creativity requires constraints? Well, in much the same way, success requires boundaries. Habits create those boundaries.
Your financial success needs the boundaries your habits provide.
Remember how I said your habits are in support of your goals. Well, your goals support your vision. Another loop 🙂
But this loop can’t work it’s powerful magic in your life if you are deeply entrenched in the culture of busy-ness — the kind of busy that leaves you feeling too overwhelmed, stressed and burnt-out to strategically manage your choices around money.
More than a lack of information or insight. More than a lack of access to helpful resources. Being the wrong-kind-of-busy is one of the greatest blocks to your financial success.
So, I invite you to join the wonky named “slow busy” movement. Not only will it help you manage the pace of modern life. But it’ll help you be a better steward of your money and, in the process, help you set the stage for creating tomorrow’s financial success with today’s actions!
p.s. I’m cooking up something that is entirely new and that you’ve never seen me offer before…stay tuned for the announcement next week.
p.p.s. Did you check out my interview with Speak Up to Stand Out Leadership Summit; my interview aired on Friday, Sept 16th. http://bit.ly/2cOXk4b
