Jump Start: Self Care September: Day 13
It’s Day 13 of our Jump Start, and Day 6 of Get Organised & Get Motivated Week. Today we are going to try the most efficient way of turning our daydreams into reality, so put the kettle on and let’s get started.
Today’s activity is to try my Tea Break Daydream exercise, and find out whether it works for you. I’ve chosen a tea break because it’s a happy time of day for me when I can step away from other tasks, but you might like to try a coffee break, juice break or a cake break if that’s what floats your proverbial boat.
The other reason I’ve chosen a tea break is that it’s a short break, a finite and defined period of time. While techniques such as intensive visualisation can help many reach their personal goals, there is also evidence to suggest that people who do a large amount of daydreaming and imagining about their future can actually end up being less productive. Why would that be? The theory is that extensive imagining of a positive scenario gives you the feel good factor to the point that you feel like you’ve already achieved your goals – so you’re less likely to make the effort.
Keep it to about 10 minutes maximum. Settle down somewhere that you won’t be disturbed for a few minutes, and relax. Think about the things that you really want to achieve in either your work or your personal life. Don’t try to conform to what other people would describe as ‘proper’ or ‘the right thing to do’, just let your mind wander to what’s really important to you right now, and in the medium to long term future.
If you aren’t used to doing things like this, don’t worry if you feel a bit stuck or get distracted during the process. Try asking yourself: “what would make me really happy if I could do this right now” and then move on to what would make you the most happy if it happened next month, within the next six months, within a year, and within five or ten years.
You’ll probably find that one thing catches your imagination more than anything else, and there might be a few other less urgent dreams and hopes in there too.
Make a note of the most important one, and maybe the two next most important ones. After the daydreaming you have to take action otherwise it will just remain a dream, because everyday life has a habit of getting in the way.
This time next week, have another tea break and research how you could achieve your main goal. For example, if you want to take a round the world trip, research where you’d most like to visit and roughly how much it’s likely to cost – from there you’ll quickly be able to make a definite plan so you can fund your dream.
What are you waiting for? Get the kettle on!
