I remember not that long ago how dedicated I was to living the right life.
I was conscientious and committed to the environment, to my job, to my friends.
At the beginning of each new year I would decide on one new thing to learn - juggling, ice skating, sign language.
I wrote long letters to my friends and I traveled hundreds of miles to visit them.
I would spend all day preparing a three course meal for my friends.
I meditated, I studied Buddhism and I vowed to live a good life free of want and clutter.
...
These days I barely seem to have a minute spare. My days blur from one to the next. Weeks get swallowed up in a routine that is far from routine. I dash from one chore to the next. My friends might get a hastily concocted email every two or three months, if they're lucky. I've not left Cornwall in months.
I have a list of things I need to do that never get done. The important things in life get elbowed aside by trivial time-wasting pursuits.
...
Basically, I have become lazy and ill disciplined.
Not lazy as in bone-idle, but lazy as in not dedicating myself to the right things.
I will Facebook for an hour - and not even good Facebook social interaction - no, bad Facebooking - establishing my kingdom in Castleville! Meaningless drivel.
Instead, I could be teaching my daughter to play the guitar, learning Italian, baking bread or writing a letter to a friend. I could be snuggled up on the sofa with my wife watching a movie. I could be painting the camouflage pattern on the wings of my Spitfire. Any number of better things to do.
...
I once vowed to be the best husband and father I can be - and I live under delusion that I am, because I treat my wife and daughter well, and do many things for them - possibly more than the average guy would - but I fall far short of what I could be. With very little further effort I could do far more, just by devoting my time to them.
The book I am reading at the moment says to "begin with the end in mind". It suggests imagining your own funeral - imagining four people delivering a short speech about you. A family member, maybe your spouse or child - next, a friend, then your employer and finally a member of your community. What would you want them to say about you?
Whatever it is that you want them to be saying - those are your inner goals. And so, each day should be about moving towards those goals.
It also goes on about Leadership and Management - It says Management is about doing something properly, but Leadership is about doing the right thing. It says you can spend your life self managing every detail - taking courses to improve your skills, pursuing promotions, securing your future - but without Personal Leadership - without making sure you are heading in the right direction, that management could be a waste of time. Management is about climbing the ladder. Leadership is about making sure the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
So from now on I will be thinking more about personal leadership - making sure I spend that time teaching my daughter the guitar, making more effort to appreciate my wife, keeping in touch with my friends, and less time managing my kingdom!
