The Vacation Principle

Sometimes we find ourselves dissatisfied with the experiences in our lives. We feel bored. I used to find myself in this situation all the time. I thought, “if only I lived someplace interesting.” Because I wanted to be “anywhere but here,” I couldn’t see all the adventures and excitement happening all around me.

 

 

Imagine that you are a tourist in your town. You only have three days to experience all that your town/city has to offer. Go exploring. Find the best coffee house, the best book store, a historic building, a museum, a quaint little store. Because you’re on vacation, you expect to find things of interest.

 

 

Wherever you go on vacation, you know you won’t be there forever. You know there are things that you don’t want to miss. Everything becomes vibrant and exciting. You don’t want to miss a minute of it.

 

 

Think of your life as an extended vacation. Explore all of the possibilities. Take the long way home, explore a side street, visit that little shop you have always wanted to go to, take a stroll in the park. Be a tourist in your own hometown and in your life. When you do this, even every day events can become exciting.

 

 

Try it! You’ll be amazed.

 

 

I’ve started applying the Vacation Principle with my daughter as well. Whenever she says she is bored I pull out the community directory that lists all the activities in our town. If we look hard enough, there is almost always something happening. If not then there are the craft shops. At one store she can paint pottery to give as birthday or Christmas gifts. At another she can make jewelry. We discovered a mine just outside town where she can search for jewels. We discovered so many things to do in our area that it will take us the rest of the year to do them all.

 

 

It is truly amazing what we will find within our field of vision if we just open our eyes, minds, and souls to all of the possibilities that await our discovery.

 

 

Here’s to your journey, and ours.

Time Management tips from Denis Waitley

Begin each day with this question: “What am I going to do today that will make the best use of my time and energy, and lead me a step closer to reaching my goals?”
During the day, each time you are faced with a decision, ask yourself: “Does this action substantially help me toward achieving my goals?”

Before you leave your workplace or before you go to sleep at night, make a list of your most urgent priorities for the following day in order of their importance. You might consider dividing your activities into A, B, and C lists:

A is for action immediately
B is before the end of the day
C is can wait until tomorrow

Become aware of interruptions and distractions that block your success. Constant telephone calls are the most common. Spending too much time reading and answering personal e-mails is another problem. Chatting with co-workers eats up more time. Messy files, disorganized scheduling and cluttered desks are roadblocks. Take an objective look at your routines and habits. And then take action!

Until next week, keep following your A, B and C’s!
– Denis Waitley