Cultivating the Essential: Time Well Invested

In a small town nestled in the countryside, in the midst of beautiful and high mountain ranges, somewhere in the east, there lived a young woman named Sonja. She was young in years and old in wisdom and known throughout the community for her ability to bring mindfulness and positivity to the lives of those she touched.

Sonja was a design and lifestyle consultant as well as a transformational coach, guiding people toward their core goals. Her eyes sparkled with the light of life, her voice was soft and calm and her presence inspired peace in all those she met. She fully embodied who she was in every way.

One sunny morning, Sonja sat on her porch surrounded by the neighbourhood cats and dogs lazing around, sipping a cup of steaming hot tea and contemplating the day ahead. The birds still chirped and she could hear the cry of an eagle in the far distance mixed with the sound of traffic. Her family had left for work and she was enjoying the peace after the humdrum of the morning.

Sonja was committed to helping people find their path to success, and her own core goal was to make a real difference in the lives of anybody who came in contact with her, especially her clients.

It had been a hectic few days and she needed to reset her priorities to avoid burnout. She went back inside her home, looked at the mess that needed clearing up and sighed as she dialled the number of the lady who occasionally helped her with household chores. That done, she gazed at the calendar brimming with appointments and commitments, and a question echoed in her mind: “What one thing can I not do today to gain more time for what I know is truly important?”

She knew she needed to create space for herself. With her resolve firmly in place, Sonja decided to sit down and take a few focused minutes to review her priorities and shear off something extraneous from her days. She would call in the workers next month, the home renovations she had planned could wait another few weeks. She could go another day or two without going grocery shopping; she would challenge herself to cook something delicious with whatever was available. It would save her a trip into town and she would concentrate on her writing for a few hours.

She then reviewed her appointments and cancelled a meeting that was scheduled with a potential client for the next day, someone she instinctively felt was not quite ready to embrace the change they needed. They had already skipped one of their earlier meetings on what she felt was a cooked-up pretext and had requested a re-schedule. They wanted her time and energy, but were they willing to commit theirs as well, besides the money?

She cancelled well ahead of schedule and sent the potential client a Life Balance Workbook instead, requesting that they work on it using the time scheduled for their meeting and send it back to her filled-in to help her gauge where they were at; this would clarify how willing the potential client was to move forward in their lives. This meeting, though potentially financially rewarding if the client signed up, would consume valuable time and energy that could be better spent on one of her existing clients who were truly invested in their transformation. She knew that the extra money she could get was useful to pay for the renovations, but not at the cost of what was important to her.

Then Sonja reached out to one of her long-standing clients who was going through a particularly challenging phase in their life and had requested a session. She offered a session for the next day with additional support, organized a mindfulness meditation session for the coming weekend, and knew that she would be providing insightful guidance that would be deeply appreciated.

By refocusing her energy and time on those who genuinely sought transformation, Sonja felt a sense of fulfilment that no amount of money or extraneous tasks could provide.

The day went by and she had made good progress on her writing, and as the sun set, Sonja realized the wisdom of her decision. She was tired but felt happy, fulfilled and satisfied. She had sheared off the unnecessary and embraced the essential, staying true to her core goals. In doing so, she was not only enriching the lives of her dedicated clients but had also found more time for what she knew was important — her creative writing and guiding people who were invested in themselves as much as she was in them, toward positive, transformative change and ensuring her own well-being.

Oftentimes, we have to set and review our priorities and intentionally choose not to do something to create the precious space for what truly matters in our lives.

Saying No to something is saying Yes to something else and vice-versa.

Our lives can often be full of things to do that are really not important to us at all, and are there by sheer habit as part of our routine. Sometimes, we take on things because we find it difficult to say NO to others. We are caught in the web and the noise of distractions, pulling at our attention, engaging our focus and making us squander our life energy on totally unfulfilling pursuits that fill up our lives, which can pass by in an instant.

The grim reaper can arrive unexpectedly at any moment depriving us of the time to fulfil our deepest desires and live out our dreams. We are not in possession of the crystal ball to see how much time we have here.

Each moment is formed by our choices from the infinite potential paths that we can take and we have in our hands the power to exercise different choices.

• What conscious choices are you making/can you make to live a life that is more fulfilled and in alignment with who you are?
• What do you need to remove from your own To-do list to clear time and space for yourself?

As a mindfulness practitioner and life-design coach, I help clients focus on well-being and personal growth and make life choices that prioritize their mental and emotional health. I work with them to resolve confidence issues and Imposter Syndrome. This leads to personal freedom and independence allowing the person to blossom and manifest the life they deserve. If you’re looking to expand your horizons and/or overcome issues, connect with me.