I love listening to podcasts. There’s few things I find more relaxing than getting outside and walking a few miles while I listen to some music or a podcast. I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast, Entreleadership, over the weekend.
He prefaced the podcast with a thought about Adam Sandler’s movie, Click. He brought up how he was recently watching a football game with his kids and had to hit the pause button a million times during the game. Although he was kind of annoyed because he wanted to just sit and watch his game, he knew he had to hit pause when there was something more important that needed his attention. Darn kids! 🙂
Man, what a great point! Ever get so wrapped up in a project for work, your body woes, your addiction to Facebook, your new hobby, your material wants, etc. that you completely ignore an area of your life that needs attention and is much more important?
If you said no, you’re a liar!
Sure, work is important. Kids are important. Your relationships are important. Your health is important. Everything I listed (plus more!) needs your attention, but sometimes the balance of these things is off and you need to hit pause on one important aspect of life to focus on another priority. It’s shocking how easy it is to ignore what’s right in front of you screaming for attention when you’re lost in your own world!
Maybe work is super stressful so you’re completely skipping out on the gym or not eating right because you feel overwhelmed. Perhaps you need schedule three non-negotiable workouts each week and hit pause on your work project during those times. Get your head and body right with a training session!
I know, work is important! You need to pay bills and/or provide for your family, right? However, isn’t your health important too? Hit pause for an hour a few times a week and then hit play again. You are worth it.
On the other hand…
I’ve seen clients who constantly fall into the trap of more is better when it comes to training and sticking to a rigid diet. In fact, I’ve seen many people who are so wrapped up in their training, getting to the gym a million times a week, or eating the exact right things at the right times that they ignore everything else! If this is you, it’s likely you need a break from prioritizing your strict training and diet routine to do things like work on your relationships, get some work done or spend time with your kids.
If you’ve been training and dieting hard for a long time, it’s likely you need to hit the pause button on training and diet for a day, week, month, etc. You need to live a little, be social and spend time with friends and family. My guess is that after a little breather, you’ll be refreshed and ready to dive back in anyway!
And for an example completely un-related to training and diet…
Do you ever find that you’re ignoring your spouse’s needs because you’re using all of your time and energy elsewhere? For example, you’re obsessed with work or a hobby. You’re too tired to have real conversations or be intimate with your spouse. Even if the reason you’re ignoring your marriage feels really important (heck – maybe it’s because you’re so focused on your kids!), sometimes you need to hit pause, let someone else take the kids for a night and re-connect with your spouse.
I’m consistent as hell with my training. (Thankfully, I’ve become a lot more flexible with it as well so I don’t find it interferes with any relationships!) I’m always “on” and responsive to clients. I am constantly thinking of ways to grow our business and improve our clients’ experiences.
I aim to be a present wife, mother and friend, but sometimes I need a reminder to hit pause and tend to something more important for a bit. I need a priority check. I need to put my phone down, shorten or skip a planned training session, save the less important email responses until Monday and just be present. I need to do things like build legos, draw pictures, snuggle my baby or go out to dinner with my husband.
I’m working on hitting pause a bit more on the weekends and it’s starting to feel more natural to take time to connect with my loves and let go of the rest. Besides, when I do this on the weekends I am much more refreshed and my battery is charged on Monday!
Do you need to hit the pause button on something in your life to give attention to what’s currently more important?
What or who needs your attention right now?!
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