Letting go to meet your desires

Last week I wrote to you about how your calendar gives you insight into how and where you’re spending your time so you can better understand yourself and your priorities. 

When you use your calendar to record your daily activities, it becomes a valuable tool for planning and reflection. Pair your calendar with the end of the month, and you begin to develop an even clearer picture of what’s working and what isn’t so that you can adjust for the month ahead. Take a moment to pull up/out your calendar and look at the month of February. Step back and look at the entire month - what do you see? Next, look at it week by week, and day by day. Notice your recurring appointments, and what’s included every week (or day) throughout the month. 

How do you feel as you look back at your month? Get as specific as possible.

What’s missing? If you could add anything to your calendar, what would it be? Take the “how” out of it. Imagine you have the time, how do you yearn to spend that time? Reading, sleeping, having coffee with a friend, taking an improv class, learning to knit, going for a walk, culling your closet, painting, writing…. What do you desire? Go ahead and make a list, it will be helpful to reference this in the future.

Going back to your calendar, if you could give up any commitment, right now, which would you choose? Notice how you feel as you imagine letting that go. 

Is it possible for you to eliminate that commitment or spend less time on it in March? Maybe it is, maybe not. Maybe it is possible but would mean going out of your comfort zone to ask for help, to say no, or negotiate a new or shared schedule. Would it be worth it for you to free up time that you spend doing something you’d rather not do so you can have the time and space to do something you desire? Take 1 minute to brainstorm, and explore the possibilities. If you’re stuck, it may help to ask a friend to brainstorm with you. And if it truly is immovable, consider another item on your calendar that’s more flexible and see what’s possible there. 

In the words of Marie Forleo, everything is figureoutable. It starts with knowing what you desire and giving yourself permission to experience it. Then you get to figure out the how. 

You can do it, and you deserve to experience and fulfill your desires. 

With love,
Jodh

P.S. Looking for our free guide to calendaring? Here it is.