The 5 steps of living savvy are: Ask, Do, Discover, Commit & Celebrate. The Savvy Web Wrap is definitely part of the Discover step – I love connecting with information that shines a light on how we live and what’s important to us, looking into the experience of others and gaining a deeper insight into my own life. Here’s what caught my eye (and mind!) recently…
At what age do you really hit your stride?
Mia Freedman's video answer to this very savvy question was “definitely after 35”. Skip to 6min 15sec to hear about her process of discovering more about herself, her values and what she truly wants in life.
It was such a great question I had to stop, reflect and answer for myself… I've discovered that life is a marathon not a sprint. I know when I’m running longer distances I hit my stride at different times, and then falter and shuffle at others. In my early twenties when I was creating programs for young people with mental illness, and later when I was publishing and presenting at conferences, I felt like I had a steady rhythm to my stride. Soon after, a major stumble in my personal life impacted on my professional life. I shuffled for a while before finding my stride on a different career path. At the moment I’m picking up the pace, still waiting to really hit my stride, but knowing that the effort, 'training' and willingness to have a go will get me to that place again.
What's your stuff doing for you? What can you let go of?
With her usual straight-to-the-point style, blue milk blogged about a recent “a mother#%$&in’ throw out” of stuff from her children’s overflowing play room:
“During the event, the children’s father, up to his knees in stuff, stood in the middle of the play room and wondered aloud what are we compensating for exactly?”
De-cluttering and organising are definitely a big part of my process in creating a life that is fulfilling and connected, not busy, stressed or just 'full'. I believe having lots of stuff in the home just means more time maintaining it, and less time connecting to each other as family. I go through the kids wardrobes (and my own) twice a year at the end of summer / autumn and again at the end of winter / spring. I try not to purchase any clothes for the upcoming season until after this clean out so I know what I have kept and what is needed. This year I’m planning a big toy clean out around September as the kids are now four and six so good bye all things toddler and baby (can you tell that I’m excited?!).
Limit your resources to focus your creativity…
Loved this very practical advice from Sarah Wilson:
“…limited resources force you to focus on your creativity. I often create limited resources when I have to get something done, like my weekly column. I create short deadlines that I have to work to.”
After reading her post I used this batching technique to make some great progress on my PhD studies – a big project with a long timeline (probably 7 years to completion!) that can feel incredibly daunting at times. Over to you – do any of these posts inspire you to stop and reflect? Share your thoughts, or any other interesting online tidbits that have caught your attention lately, in the comments…
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I finally got around to adding you to my blogroll. I like what you're doing on the site here, and thanks also for the link love.