The past few weeks I’ve been trying out this idea of “doing” more. I’m not talking about adding more to my to-do list, the idea is to take more small deliberate actions to live the life I want to live. Maybe some examples will help me illustrate what I’m talking about.
My wife and I built a raised bed kitchen garden a few years ago. I love working in the garden and feel a great sense of satisfaction when I get to bring a flush of tomatoes, peppers, or cucumbers in from the back yard. This past summer and fall were busier than expected (at least that’s the story I told myself) and I deprioritized the garden and it became a pressure point of disappointment and anxiety. I came to the point where just looking in the general direction of the garden queued some problematic thinking and negative self talk… which of course resulted in feeling down and anxious. Today, instead of letting the overwhelm feed my thoughts and influence my emotions, I’m just going to do something about it. Nothing big, just small actions to help me move the needle forward. There is a shelf in the garage that we use for starting seeds and today I’m going to get that shelf ready to go. One small action.
Another example are these daily reflections I’ve been writing. I know the benefit they provide to me and I really love getting the chance to share them with my friends, family, colleagues and community in the hopes that they can help someone in a small way. I’m not trying to write a book, or become some type of thought leader or influencer. I just want to give a little bit of what I have learned and what I think about to others. So, I write a short reflection and share it. One small action.
There are lots of options for “doing” more throughout the day. I think it is helpful to keep the scope of the actions small and manageable but also intentional and directionally moving things forward towards a goal. Add up enough small actions and odds are you will end up with the life you want to be living.
