I felt like I had a to-do list that was a mile long with bright neon lights distracting me as if I was on the Vegas strip. Begging me to pay attention to all it had to offer with it’s blaring light. However, I was still in the parking lot with my car in idle, fingers drumming against the steering wheel, while I fought my to-do list with what I value.
Instead of driving down my Vegas strip of to-do I would rather sit and talk with my husband, or sit on the couch sending texts back and forth with my friends, or curling up in bed with a really good book after a long day.
While I honour my values my to-do list is still there blaring lights and all. Sometimes I feel guilty because everything I read and everyone is telling me that “I should… be working on my business /focusing on creating my ideal lifestyle/engaging constantly with my children/meal planning/working out”. But all I want to do is pour another glass of wine and escape into another series of Outlander.
If you’re nodding your head, have faith that you’re not alone.
It doesn’t have to be hard to make your dreams become a reality. Of course it will stretch you and pull you out of your comfort zone, but you don’t need to make it harder than it is.
When you honour what you value, when you know what lights you up, what experiences leave you feeling authentic and connected to yourself then you begin to make room for your dreams to become your reality. You create and design from a place of knowing yourself instead of trying to be someone else. The flow is easy and fun (like being on a waterslide!) instead of an uphill battle during a mudslide.
So the next time you are feeling like honouring what you value is holding you back from your dreams, shake your head and say it differently:
I am honouring what I value to make room for my dreams to become my reality.
You make room for your dreams and goals to happen more freely and openly because you’ll move towards them in lightness and ease. You’ll feel inspired and creative to do the research, make the payment, call the friend, tackle the to-do list, and eliminate the limiting beliefs.
If you don’t believe me, try it!
Before I wrote this I was sitting at a table filling up on my value of connection and quality time, even with my todo list saying I should be doing something else. Instead, I quieted the negative self talk then leaned into the conversation even more. And then, when I had a quiet moment to steal away, I had the inspiration to write…and this is what came out of honouring my values.
If you feel like you’ve been stuck in a fog of confusion and not too sure how to honour your values, or know what your values are let me know! I’ll respond with some steps that you can work on right away.
Lesley it’s so interesting how you described it, setting value to make our dreams turn into our reality.
I’m not a big procrastinator in general; and now that I read your words on it, I think you’re absolutely right! I never thought about it in details or analyzed it in my head; but I think by nature I just can’t push things aside and relax. I always have to take care of my to-do-list done first, otherwise I wouldn’t enjoy what I’m doing other than that. So that’s true, checking that one item off the list is like a step closer to the dreams-turn-into-reality (in small or large scale).
You write beautifully and so direct, not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this on your IG page or here.
Thank you so much for your kind words, it means a lot!
The struggle is real balancing your values and your todo list with ease, but I have found that the more I *lean into* my values and fill up those tanks the easier it is to blast through the todo list (or even better – take items off!!! – because they aren’t aligned with who I am and what I want out of life). I hope you’re able to enjoy relaxing a bit more knowing that your todo list will get done!