4:16 PM: "If you have more than three priorities, then you don't have any."
To be completely honest, I don't know who this guy is and I haven't read his book. But this is one of my favorite little wisdom nuggets I've ever stumbled upon. I don't remember how I found this image, but I printed it out and had it taped to my desk when I worked at the Regional office for Whole Foods Market.
Too bad I can't practice what I preach.
I've been particularly overwhelming and over-prioritizing myself lately. Yet I still manage to procrastinate, too. Like right now. When instead I should be studying for my FAA remote pilot (drone) exam that I already paid $150 to take on Thursday. But yep, sure, right after this post, I'm going to get to it. Promise.
I have tried juggling on several occasions but lack both the coordination and commitment to physically do so. But my mind, however, is trying to perform an entire Cirque du Soleil performance on her own. This includes the singing, the clowning, the dancing, the tumbling, the balancing, the backstage crew, the lighting and of course, the juggling.
But that's not how Cirque works. I've seen close to a dozen different shows and they're only possible because a small army of people and performers work together to make it happen. Everyone has a specific role to play and practices said role to perfection to ensure perpetually awed audiences pay sky high ticket prices to witness these magnificent shows.
Problem is, I can't decide what I want my role to be. I know, poor me and my first world problems, right? A talented person with too many creative ideas and options. Let's explore the things dividing my attention into fragmented little pieces, shall we?
There's my YouTube channel and my Instagram along with a hard drive full of unedited pictures and video. On May 1st I decided to start two separate training programs that promised to help me improve both of these social platforms in just minutes per day. Which promptly made me question everything I had already done and start neglecting both platforms.
Not to mention, I want to rebrand all my Mirambling stuff again around the concept of "Enjoy the Journey." But I'm not particularly enjoying my own at this moment.
I'm moving to Asheville, NC next month and in the fledgling stage of starting a yoga hiking business through a friend's tour company. I'm writing pricing and promotional strategies for those while simultaneously leading test tours and trying to find someone to film me leading said tour so I can edit a promo video. Which reminds me about the Yoga workshop I've been promoting and will be teaching on Sunday in addition to my regularly scheduled class.
I recently separated my website into two: www.mirandapeterson.com for my creative consulting portfolio (which includes a variety of client work, graphic design, hand lettering, marketing strategy, video production, art, murals, menus, signage, logos, press coverage and my yoga teacher info) and this Mirambling side project right here.
I wrote out a whole, detailed idea for my 50/50 Challenge which entails creating wardrobe capsules of 50 items each for 50% of the year; Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. A photoshoot for this has been in the back of my head for weeks.
I also impulsively decided I should sign up for Match.com to meet some guys in Asheville before I move there and am not committed to 6 months of ignoring the majority of my matches.
Since I got back from South America, I've had a decent list of freelance projects, most of which fell through. From now on, I'm applying the 80/20 rule and expecting only about 1 out of every 5 project leads to actually generate income.
Which led me to apply for a contract design job with a big company in Asheville a week and a half ago with zero insight as to how that was perceived or if I'm even being considered for it.
Oh and my immune system hates my thyroid more than usual (Hashimoto's hypothyroid disorder) and I can't get in to see the doctor for blood tests until the end of June. To try to stop the fatigue and daily after-lunch naps, I decided to venture back into vegan territory and eliminate dairy and processed crap from my diet. And kinda sorta avoiding gluten but not in an obsessive way.
Then I have a bunch of half-baked ideas about sponsored videos sitting idly in the bottom rack of an oven that is cold and non-functional at the moment.
There are countless more ideas scribbled on notepads, in books, in my notes app and in Google Drive, but if I try to collect them all, I am guaranteed to have a panic attack.
I can imagine how exhausting that was to read, because I'm starting to feel fatigued by writing re-reading and actually living it. (Not just because of my thyroid.)
My usual to-do list trick isn't working like it used to. Instead of crossing off item by item, I get distracted on a tangent, then add the tangent to the list and immediately cross it off.
It seems that the projects that float to the top and get finished are the ones that involve pre-determined deadlines and other stakeholders besides myself. Thankfully the one thing I do that is consistent is to do beyond my best for any project I am committed to completing for someone else. It's my own little half-lit lightbulbs that get neglected.
5:27 PM: I think it's about time I actually started studying for that test now...
Enjoy the Journey?