I’m going to be honest with you and will probably regret telling you this. I have a ridiculous addiction to a game called Candy Crush. (Ask my husband, it drives him nuts!) I can easily convert seconds into hours as my thumbs key wildly from level to level.
One time, I casually joked to a friend that “If I took the amount of hours I spent playing candy crush into learning a language, I’d be fluent in Spanish by now”. I giggled at the thought but then this very thought took hold. A strong hold. It cemented itself in for the long haul. I asked myself…
Why the heck am I wasting time on a stupid game that doesn’t bring me any steps closer to achieving my goals?
I had become that girl I never wanted to be. The hopeless dreamer. The girl who talked the talk but couldn’t walk the walk.
And whilst I haven’t mastered Spanish (yet!), I decided to turn my back on my closet gaming ways for a promise I made to myself years ago – to finally be able to cook a meal that required more steps than a packet of 2 minute noodles! (I can feel the judgement from you kitchen connoisseurs out there #squirm). Yes it’s true, my cooking skills were limited to 2 minute noodles and/or turning bread into (often burnt) toast. But we can’t all be gifted masterchefs right?!
So I put myself on a digital gaming detox and committed myself to cooking one meal a week. Every week I would follow a recipe from scratch. And to my surprise It wasn’t long before I was hosting dinner parties for four, then six and most recently eight, preparing hainaan-style chicken with quiet confidence.
And sure, learning the basics in cooking may seem trivial to some but my biggest revelation was the realisation that you’ve got to create space in your life in order to sow the seeds of inspired action and become a productive doer. It amazes me how little thought or effort it requires for us to be productive procrastinators. So let’s redirect our skills at time wasting into something worthwhile.
Here’s another secret shame of mine, I’m the queen of bingeing on trash reality tv…Dance moms, The Bachelor, The Amazing Race and The Karcrashians (nope that’s not a typo).
So this year I put a limit on mindless TV bingeing. And once again my laser sharp focus kicked in and I found myself productively adding multiple strings to my bow. I’ve been dabbling deeply (oxymoron much?) in graphic design, website building and marketing with new found gusto. Things I’ve NEVER had an interest in. It’s taken me 30 years to realise that I actually have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. These days, we are so disciplined at allocating time for our bodies but what about strengthening our minds? We need to be mind fit too.
And yes, it’s true what they say: the more you learn, the less you know. But heck, if learning more means taking meaningful strides in the direction of my dreams, then sign me up!
So if you’re a natural born procrastinator like me, and your passion or dream is working its way further down your to-do list, let me ask you this:
What’s ONE thing you could give up TODAY in order to supercharge your focus on that productive dream-weaving goal?
