Don’t Forget to Stop and Smell the Roses

Rise and grind, outwork the competition, hustle, never quit, get comfortable being uncomfortable, push yourself. These are all sayings and mindsets that will move you forward in life and help you to achieve any goal you set for yourself, but if we aren’t careful we can lose sight of the bigger picture.

By working hard and staying hungry we begin to develop a habit of never being satisfied. This habit can be helpful in areas where you are trying to improve, but if you allow this habit to get out of control you may find that you wake up in 30 years extremely successful, but never having enjoyed any of your youth, or the journey to where you got, and then you wonder if it was really worth it.

I don’t know about you but I never want to wonder what if, I never want to look back and think that I didn’t appreciate every moment and every part of the journey.

Maybe your journey is just starting out and you are having to grind through adversity, good, but don’t get so into the weeds that you can’t see the progress you are making, that you never celebrate your victories, or that you never enjoy what you have.

Here are a couple of things I do to help me stop and smell the roses.

Journal to Increase Personal Awareness

I like to journal each day about what is going on in my life, what am I thinking, what’s my emotional state, what is good in my life and what is bad, and how am I going to change it for the better.

When I reflect back on a good day day and think about all that I have accomplished or experienced, it is impossible to not feel great. This process of taking stock of where you are in life will greatly help you develop self-awareness, which will in turn help you to find out if what you are doing is right for you. You will be able to better access you path in life, and make adjustments when you realize you are off course.

One key to being able to make the correct adjustments in your life is that when you journal, you have to have a minds eye on where you want to go, what you are aspiring to be. By knowing where you are currently, and where you are trying to go, you will gain a sense of profound clarity because it becomes clear what you have to do next, and why.

But not all days are great or productive. If I waste a day, and it truly was a waste of a day, I have to confront that horrible feeling when I go to right about it. But by forcing myself to confront that feeling, I have significantly reduced the number of days, and the amount of time I have wasted because I know that if I waste my time I will have to suffer the consequences later.

Take Days off, Take Vacations

What is the point of success if you don’t enjoy it and share it with others? Wealth isn’t meant to be hoarded and kept locked away. When you work hard you should enjoy the fruits of you labor (just make sure to be responsible).

Taking days off and vacations will help you to reset, they will help you to regain focus on what matters most in life. If you never unplug from work it is too easy to let work consume you and as a result your relationships will suffer.

The key though, is that you actually have to unplug. If you have any residual stress from your work, or you are thinking about it in the back of your mind, you won’t be able to clearly reflect.

When you are able to fully unplug it will allow you to more clearly evaluate the path you are on, see if you are actually working towards your goals, and determine if you are achieving the results you want to achieve.

Life requires a lot of work, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t, or shouldn’t have fun.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and it will do the same to you if you forget to enjoy life. Never forget that ever day on this earth is a blessing, and while you should make the most of every moment, you should also take a few of those moments to recognize just how amazing this life is. Good luck.