How busy are you?

"Hi, how are you? Are you busy?"

Is it just me, or do people greet you this way too? Now I know they have my best interests in mind but how come 'being busy' is so important? And what if I haven't been busy? Does that reflect badly on me when they are clearly so busy themselves ;-)

Yes, there are certainly days when I'm very busy.......doing what though, who knows! And anyone out there who works from home, or isn't currently working full time, will understand how easy it is to fill the day ;-)

There are other days though when I've been much less busy, when I've been focused and productive, achieved the most important things in a short space of time and found time to go for a walk in the sunshine or meet a friend for lunch.

"There is more to life than increasing it's speed" Ghandi

So how come we're so interested in how busy people are? I don't know many people who have a conscious life goal to 'be busy'. And yet, with so much focus on being busy, it seems many of us have a subconscious desire to be busy and equate being busy with being successful, fulfilled or even worthwhile.

In his book 'The 4 Hour Work Week' Timothy Ferris turns a few traditional ideas on their head and explores how we can live the life of our dreams instead of our rules. And a couple of questions in the book that I really like are these;

1) "If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?"

2) "Am I being productive or just active?"

So I don't know about you but my intention is to focus on what's most important, and instead of feeling lazy for not being busy, feel good about making time for the people and things that matter most.

Take this quick quiz to find out whether you're addicted to being busy ;-)

And remember "Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty four brand-new hours to live" Thich Nhat Hanh

How will you use yours?
Dx

Are you sure? ;-)

There's so much talk these days of uncertainty, and of these uncertain times we're living in, it seems as if this is something to fear. Yet if we just pause for a moment.....how many of us, honestly, would want to be absolutely certain about the future, know exactly what's going to happen for the rest of our lives and have it all mapped out with no surprises to look forward to? I know for a fact I'd find it somewhat dull and predictable. It would be like Groundhog Day all over again ;-)

And I'd be willing to bet that most of us never expected to be exactly where we are in life right now, doing what we're doing, knowing who we know, having learned the lessons we've learned and enjoying the gifts we've received. When I was working in financial services all those years ago I never imagined I'd be running my own business, writing on a blog (what was a blog?) or sky diving out of a plane!

So while certainty can seem desirable at times, it can also be very limiting. And holding onto our fixed views and ideas about the world can be equally limiting. We only have to look at the recent impact on the financial markets to see the damage caused by so-called experts being so certain they were right! And as Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes in his book The Black Swan, "the world we live in is vastly different from the world we think we live in". In other words, just because we don't know about something doesn't mean it's not possible.

Being certain is a bit like looking down a funnel where the number of likely outcomes becomes fewer and fewer and we fail to see anything outside that narrow focus. This can trip us up in many ways. It can lead to arrogance, ignorance, playing safe, holding back or missing opportunities. (and I'm sure there are many other possible consequences too ;-))

Uncertainty, on the other hand, is like throwing open the windows on a world of possibilities ;-)

When we allow ourselves to enjoy uncertainty, life becomes more exciting, all kinds of things become possible and we can take effective action to capitalise on these. So perhaps these 'uncertain' times present a real opportunity for us to let go of our need for certainty, be open to 'not knowing', become curious and creative and get ready to discover new possibilities. Who knows, we might be pleasantly surprised ;-)

And remember; "Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity" R I Fitzhenry"

Where can you embrace a little more uncertainty in your life?

Dx