Illustration provided by Adobe Stock Photo.
Dear friends,
It’s a bonus mid-month blog! Happy Diwali and may the coming year bring love, light, peace, and joy! My last blog was about doing a life audit. We already talked about writing down 100 wishes on sticky notes in one hour, categorizing them, and asking ourselves what underlying values they represent. I did forget to mention in my prior post that I only got up to 87 wishes, and that seems fine to me. Don’t be too rule-bound!
Based on Ximena Vengoechea’s book The Life Audit, the next step is to understand how you spend your time. She recommends simply estimating your time spent on various activities, but I disagree. Experience has shown me that all of us are inaccurate when estimating how we spend our time. Instead, please go through the process of completing a one-week time log. You will have much better data to inform your next steps.
Once you have your time log, add up how much time you spend in each activity. Don’t make your categories too broad, like “work.” It’s helpful to distinguish between meetings, clinical work, and writing time as you think ahead. Then look at how many hours you spent on different activities and ask what you want to change. Notice if your week was derailed by an unexpected family/health/personal issue. You may realize that in this season of your life, there’s only a small amount of time that you can actually manage. That’s OK, and it helps with adjusting your expectations. Is there something prominent on your time log that you don’t enjoy or want to do less of? Be honest with and kind to yourself!
Now go back to your wishes. If they’re still on your wall, great! If not, look at the pictures you took. Within each category, is there something that aligns most closely with your values? Draw a symbol on those most important wishes. Looking at your time and your most important wishes, what do you see? I realized that it will take me at least five years to fulfill even my most important wishes. For me, that feels OK. There isn’t anything that I am doing that I want to let go of. For you, this process might spark a change of swapping an activity or practice to pursue one of your wishes. There’s no right answer.
The last step of the Life Audit was the easiest, at least for me. Vengoechea discusses the importance of keeping good company. She uses the terms “promoters,” those who lift you up, “passives,” those who are neutral, and “detractors,” those who undermine you or waste your time. She poses the question: Do you have the right people on your personal team to help you realize your goals, aspirations, and intentions? I agree with her that the right people and relationships are key for happiness and fulfillment, and I could not be more grateful for the company I keep, including you.
I can’t wait to hear about your life audit! As always, I love to hear from you. Please share widely, as usual, and let others know they can sign up here.
Warmly,
Urmimala