INVESTING IN WHAT'S IMPORTANT

Invest your time in what's important to you - stop wasting yourself on irrelevant trivialities. #midlife #investyourself

IMPORTANT OR IRRELEVANT? YOU DECIDE

We're onto "I" in the "List of More" and today it's about figuring out what's important and focusing our time and energy on those things, rather than getting caught up in the little stuff that keeps us busy, but achieves very little. The trick is to figure out what has meaning and purpose in your life and turn your attention to that, while letting the more trivial stuff take a back seat.

PASSION VS PROGRESSION

I'm not a person who has one all consuming "Passion" I find the whole concept of it completely out of my realm. I'm not driven by a need to write a novel, or save the world, or to create a masterpiece. I'm happy living a life full of lots of smaller interests that (hopefully) help me to become a more rounded and relevant person. I don't even have a bucket list full of things to be ticked off - just a life that I'm content with and the expectation that new experiences will present themselves and I'll just keep progressing.

Moving forward and growing are important to me. I don't want to stagnate - which is why I'm quite focused on my reasons for not working at the moment. I don't want to have left my job and then ended up just sitting around at home every day doing nothing but watching day time TV. That might appeal to some people, but for me it's not enough.... there has to be Progression. I need to stay focused on what's important to me and invest myself in those areas. So for some it's all about Passion, and for me it's about Progression - maybe it's the same thing with a different title - but it boils down to what's important in life.

HOW DO WE FIGURE OUT WHAT'S IMPORTANT?

I think we need to ask these two questions: 1) What's important to you? and 2) What would you miss the most from your life if you lost it? I think for most women, the answers often revolve around our relationships. Family and friends, husbands, children, grandchildren all feature high up on the list. Those are where we invest our hearts and when we genuinely care for others, finding the time and energy to connect is easy. Even with distance involved, we still manage to stay in touch - because it's important and they are valuable to us.

After you allow for those all important relationships, what's left? For some it's their work, for others it's travel, or being creative, or helping others, or keeping fit, or eating healthy, or growing things, or our pets, and so many other interests. If someone asked you what you love (other than your nearest and dearest) these are the things you'd mention with barely a thought - if it's important it's at the front of your mind.

Don't sit on the couch and wait for it.   Go out. Make a change. Smile more.   Be excited. Do new things.

DISCARD THE IRRELEVANT

Once we've figured out what makes our hearts beat or what engages our minds, then that's where we should be investing our time and attention. But, what if we stopped for a moment and looked at what fills our days, weeks, months and years? What if we looked at the time we waste doing stuff that contributes nothing to our lives? What if we managed to discard some of those irrelevant activities and allowed ourselves more time to put towards what we've decided is important? What would that look like for our lives?

I know we can't throw out the baby with the bathwater. I'm aware that housework, and tedious chores don't "spark a lot of joy" in anyone. I also know that we often have to go to a 9-5 job that isn't all that appealing (speaking from past experience!) But I also know that there's still time left in the week and we can choose how we spend it. I don't know about you, but I want to choose to invest that time in things that make me "More Me" that grow me as a person and keep me relevant and interesting. It's so easy to sit back and be tired, but when we make that little bit of effort, focus in on something we enjoy, and then go and do it, we're always energized by it and glad we made the effort.

INVEST IN THE IMPORTANT

So, join me in not letting Midlife become dull and and boring, let's find what sparks some joy, let's find what floats our boat, let's step out and fill our lives with the interesting and important things that give us something to look forward to. There are women all around us living their best lives in their 50's, 60's and 70's - let's join them and inspire others to see that Midlife can definitely be our best life!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are you living your best life? Have you figured out what's important and focusing your time and energy into those areas - rather than treading water doing the irrelevant time wasting stuff? Let's grow together, let's fire ourselves up and enjoy all that life has to offer.


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Invest your time in what's important to you - stop wasting yourself on irrelevant trivialities. #midlife #investyourself

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Invest your time in what's important to you - stop wasting yourself on irrelevant trivialities. #midlife #investyourself

29 comments

  1. Hi Leanne, Happy Saturday and I agree that we are all different in what is important to us. I recently was reading about how many of us complain we don't have enough time to do what we want to. The article suggested that if something was important enough to us we would make the time. If we don't then it isn't as important as we thought. I do have a passion to help others and that is part of the reason why I blog so I can perhaps encourage other women to find who they are and what they want in their life as individuals rather than trying to be someone who our family, friends and society feel we should be. Have a lovely weekend BBB x

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    1. Hi Sue - well, you certainly inspire and encourage me! Blogging is such a great window into becoming all we're capable of being isn't it? I also love how much I've learned and how positive thought and action can make a huge difference to our lives. Wasting time on stuff that doesn't fill our soul is something I think a lot of us will regret down the track. It's never too late to figure out what makes our hearts happy and to devote more time to it. Happy weekend to you too xxx

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  2. Hi, Leanne - Thank you for another very thought-provoking post. I agree that we are all different in what is important to us. It still amazes me how somethings (many things really) that once held utmost importance to me, I now don't value at all. Even more eye-opening for me, are what I once took for granted and now would give anything to have more of (especially, more time with)! Thank goodness it is never too late to grow, change and recalculate!

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    1. I feel the same way Donna - life changes us and I think as we get older we realize how many things we wasted time on and how many we should have invested more time into. We can't go back and change it, but we can certainly move forward with the knowledge and not waste any more moments x

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  3. I love this! I wonderful life lesson to take stock of priorities. Now is all we have.

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    1. Exactly Jae! And why waste any more time on stuff that doesn't make our hearts happy? We have to deal with the mundane, but we don't have to invest all our time and energy into it do we?

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  4. Leanne - great post! I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while.

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    1. It's a big one for me Janet - the Passion vs Purpose bit - where I don't have to feel bad about not having one driving passion, but I can still focus on what's important and make sure that's where I'm investing my time.

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  5. I agree Leanne, we need to make time for and assess what's important to us. Some might see the time we spend blogging as not a priority but that just shows how everyone is different. A great thought provoking post and one we all need to think about from time to time. I feel I'm living a version of my best life and enjoy learning new things and volunteering with various groups to give back. Thanks for all your thoughtful posts :) you are always so honest and inspiring in sharing your thoughts.

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    1. Thanks for your lovely compliments Deb - and yes, I feel like Midlife has turned out to be a great time for me too. I love blogging and the connections and encouragement - where else do you have a tribe of women who are cheering you on every week? I've grown so much through my blogging journey and just wish I'd discovered it earlier!

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  6. Great thoughts on this. Visiting you from the anything goes linky. laurensparks.net

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    1. Hi Lauren, thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  7. A very thoughtful and helpful post. Blogging is a connection tool for me and I love its many ways I get to 'meet' new people and read their thoughts. Just like now!

    Thanks for sharing on #lifethisweek and next week's optional prompt is 20/51 Share Your Snaps #4 20/5/19 so do join in! Denyse

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    1. Same for me Denyse - the connection, encouragement and support have been far beyond anything I could have imagined before finding this wonderful online Midlife community.

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  8. I have to admit I've struggled to identify the 'what's important' thing. I mean, I know what I enjoy but then other things (financial security, $, responsibility) rear their ugly heads... just when I've told myself I'm going to pursue a more balanced and creative life.

    I read something once though that talked about working out what we don't like and I actually find it easier to work via process of elimination. My gut instinct kicks in better when I'm rebelling against something, rather than appreciating what I have. (IF that makes sense!)

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    1. That made me smile Deb - seeing you doing the rebellious thing and eliminating stuff. I still struggle with the whole idea of finding a Passion to focus on, so instead I'm just looking for things that make me happy or relaxed or peaceful and working on having more of those in my life.

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  9. I've been massively stressed in the day job since February and a friend - someone who has known me for a long time - suggested that I should concentrate on my career and forget about playing with writing and blogging. The intimation being that career is important and how she doesn't believe that I really don't care about climbing the ladder any further. If she really knew me she'd know that it's the blogging and the stories that make the reality of a job I don't enjoy bearable. That's how I know that creativity and freedom is what's important to me - after family, of course.

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    1. The first thing I thought was - NO don't give up the blogging and writing!! I'm so glad you could see how vital they are to who you are as a person Jo. Wouldn't it be sad to be so corporately focused at this stage of life that you threw the joy-bringing stuff out the window so you could just be a workaholic? That's truly sad.

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  10. Great post Leanne! It's all about living our best life. Working out who we are, what makes us happy and fulfilled, what makes us feel good and creating a life that provides that. To do that of course we also need to recognise what's not important, what drags us down, what we could do without ... and ditch as much of that as we can (or find a way to better manage them). #TeamLovinLife

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    1. I'm all about ditching the rubbish these days Min. The more I realize how much time I wasted on stuff that dragged me down or caused me stress, the more I turn my back on that and don't want to EVER get sucked back into it again!

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  11. Hi Leanne, I came across your post at The Blogger's Pit Stop. I sure agree with your stand, that's why I've decided to not have a TV when I get my own place cos that's useless distraction. I'd much rather spend time reading and writing! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. We have a TV that rarely gets watched - I tend to read or blog or do something online rather than watch what's on free to air TV. My husband is much the same. If not having a TV works then I think it's a perfect way to keep yourself focused on what's important.

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  12. I'm having some difficulty commenting on your page, hence this test!

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    1. Yay Diane! Hope to see you here again x

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  14. A very interesting read. I think as humans we all have different priorities. Family is definitely a big investment for me but I do know that I need to start investing in myself a little more #anythinggoes

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    1. Family used to be my main focus Noleen - until our kids moved away and set up their homes a couple of hours away from us. They don't need a lot of our time anymore because they're busy with their own lives, so it gives me time to focus on myself (and my lovely husband) Your time will come!

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  15. prioritizing is one skill everyone needs to learn. I mostly have trouble exactly in this. Thanks for joining the Bloggers Pit Stop - Pit Stop Crew

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  16. Leanne, this is the best thing I've read all month! Paragraph two sounded just like me. I've often thought life must be somehow simpler for people who have one all-consuming passion in life. Pinning so I can find it again.

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Thanks so much for your comment - it's where the connection begins.