Protect Your Day
Author: Dave BerothI don’t know how you were brought up, but I was told never to pick up hitchhikers. That may sound mean, because after all, hitchhikers obviously need a ride. Why not stop to pick them up? Simply because, routinely, in the movies hitchhikers have often become hijackers! They’ve knocked the driver in the head and seized the wheel of the car, and taken both car and driver somewhere they did not intend to go.
Hijacking happens to us every day. You get knocked out of the driver seat or someone else is telling you were to go. And the direction with which you started your day is no longer the destination.
How do we keep from getting our day hijacked?
1. Intentionally Prepare for Tomorrow, Tonight.
Getting more stuff done is not enough motivation for freeing up your morning routine. We need a purpose that’s bigger than us to be successful in any new change. What difference will make to prepare for tomorrow the night before? When you have answered that, you can be prepared for the unexpected that threatens to hijack your day.
Once everyone else gets up, it’s game on. If I wake up to everyone else’s drama, pace and urgency, that sets one tone for my day, just not the one that I want!
Rising early with choices already made the night before allows me to start my day on my own terms and frees me from the drama and demands of others at least for just a little while. Rising early with a set practice provides me the ability to give God my first and my best and keeps me from robbing my relationships throughout the day and evening.
What’s important is often not urgent and what’s urgent is often not important! Beginning the day by spending unhurried time alone with God is the most important way we could begin our day…not in our email or trying to choose the clothes we’re going to wear that day.
Making the practical choices like clothes, breakfast and laying out your morning routine will go a long way in providing an unhurried morning.
2. Throughout the Day, Course Correct.
One would think when NASA launches moon shots; it would be an exact science. However, in every Earth to moon shot, the rocket almost immediately goes off course. A key component in successful missions is correcting and getting it right along the way.
Navigating your day requires constant adjustments. No day is perfect, but every day can be a success.
3. Think Why, Not Just What.
Someone has stated, “Every person on the planet knows what they do. Some people know how they do it. Very few people know why they do it.”
Most people live their lives by focusing on what they have to do. The endless tasks continue to mount up, and we wonder why we never feel like we’re getting ahead. Every task completed is quickly replaced by new ones.
The “why” is a purpose, cause or belief. Your “why” is your value system. It provides you with clarity, meaning and direction. It is a filter through which you can make decisions, every day.
Why do I workout? Why do I try to eat healthy? Why do I treat people with respect and dignity? Why do I show up on time? Why do I do what I say I will do?
The “why” determines the “what”? When you figure out your “why” you will be someone not easily hijacked.