One morning you say to yourself, “Today, I’m going to finally tackle these loose ends.” You’re up early and you’re pumped. You’re almost ready to get started… then you get a notification. Oh look! An old high school friend liked a meme you posted about friendship. Just to be nice you return the favor and like something she posted. Since you’ve done that much, what’s the harm in giving your newsfeed a quick scroll? Right as you’re about to put your phone down and hop in the shower, Twitter starts blowing up! The beef between two of your favorite celebs has gotten out of control! Now you’ve got to read what happened while you slept. It wouldn’t be right to break your commitment now! By the time you finish commenting, liking, and posting, you look up and most of the day is gone.
It’s hard for some of us to admit, but we can let distractions take us away from our purpose without even noticing. According to a CNN report, American teens spend approximately 9 hours per day using social media solely for enjoyment. But adults aren’t much better. On Average, American adults use social media about 4.7 hours daily. Many don’t see the harm in using their free time solely for enjoyment because…it’s free time. But is this true?
Technically free time is the time left after we’ve done all the things we need to do. Ironically, one of the most important things we must do, think about our calling, people rarely devote the time required.
When we consider our life’s work and God’s purpose for us, it requires our real time and attention. It takes time to chew over how our skills and talents can be used to benefit others. Often we don’t find time to do this because we become distracted by other things. Maybe today you were finally going to revamp your resume and search for your dream job. Maybe you were going to volunteer with the organization you love, or read that book you purchased a few months back. Maybe you’d planned to finally take some time to evaluate your budget or reorganized your room and donate items to the homeless shelter. But the time you would have spent doing those things, you used to binge watch Netflix.
So, what’s the ultimate consequence of living a distracted life? It’s simple; you’ll never reach your full potential. Missing out on your true calling won’t be because you were incapable or even because you were unwilling, you just never dedicated enough time to it. You never took time to think about what it is you should be doing, plan for it, and work towards it.
Fortunately, no matter how distracted you’ve been, you can turn it all around in four easy steps.
Step 1: Find time each day to disconnect from social media, silence your phone, and turn off the television. Start out by setting aside 30 minutes a day for yourself just to reflect on your life without any distraction. As you get more comfortable you’ll take more time to do this.
Step 2: During this time, think about your goals. Visualize where you see yourself next year, in five years, and in ten years. List specific goals you have for yourself and realistic ways they can be accomplished. Also, make a list of things you want to do for others. It can be volunteering, mentoring, community action, environmental clean-up, etc. A life devoted only to you won’t be fulfilling.
Step 3: Once you have identified your goals and the specific steps required to reach them, make realistic deadlines for completion. For instance, “I will have my resume revised by this date” or “I will complete and submit the volunteer application by early next week.” Deadlines will make you accountable to yourself. Oh! And tell a friend – preferably a friend who has no problem annoying you so you can stay focused. This person will help you stay on track.
Step 4: Execute, execute, execute. Make sure you follow through with the plans you laid out. They may need to be altered or tweaked along the way, but at least you are actively thinking about them and putting your words into action. That’s what matters.
So, if distractions have taken you off course, don’t worry. You can easily get back on track. Just remember to make real time thinking about your purpose without the world getting in the way. You owe it to yourself. The world will be better served when you are walking in your true calling.
