“Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come,
Watching the ships roll in, and then I watch ‘em roll away again, yeah,
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away,
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time”.
These lyrics were recorded by Otis Redding on December 7, 1967, just three days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin.
The song “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” was #1 for 4 weeks in 1968.
So, there you are, just sitting there, staring at your computer. You just picked up the days mail, and six of the seven envelopes are for bills that are now overdue. The seventh letter was yet another “get rich with-out working” scam. No wonder, as another lyric in the song states “look like nothin’s gonna come my way”, is how you feel.
It was February, 1993, and I was living in Portland Maine at the time. I was unemployed. My savings had dwindled to zero. I didn’t have a phone, and my monthly bills were getting farther and farther behind. The mortgage payment on the apartment I owned was 4 months behind, and I had to keep the heat turned down as I could not afford to keep it warm. I had lost my car, and if one knows anything about winters in Maine, a 5 minute walk in sub freezing weather isn’t fun. I knew just about every bartender by name. I wasn’t a drinker, but I knew which bars had free hors d’oeuveres during their happy hour. A cup of hot coffee I could afford, and I knew that I would not go hungry that day. During this time, the lyrics that Otis Redding wrote seemed to replay constantly in my mind. I really wondered if I was ever going to get out of the mess I was in.
People had a ton of advise to offer, but none of it mattered. How many times can you hear “get a grip”, or “everything will turn out okay”? Well, sometimes when you are up to your armpits in aligators, the notion that everything will turn out okay is the last thing you are thinking about. In those very moments, you are in survival mode.
How many folks reading this can relate to that? How many folks feel that way right now? How many folks have no idea where to turn, let alone have any idea what to do next?
This post is not about “what I did to get going again and so can you” crap.
This post is about things you can do, right now, that won’t cost you a cent to implement and will bring purpose back into your life.
Are you ready?
1. Admit it. Life sucks at the moment, and let everyone you know that you have the “right” to feel that way. We all have a right to our feelings!!!
2. Accept it. No matter what your situation, all the thinking, sleeping, day-dreaming, or getting drunk, won’t change a thing.
3. Stop. That’s right, stop. Take a break, and just let things be as they are.
I say this because you need to have a starting point. You have to know where you are beginning. Besides, at some point you will want to look back and see how far you have come.
Here is where we really get things moving positively.
1. Clean off your desk. Get rid of everything, and I mean everything. Imagine you are leaving your home because you are being evacuated due to a hurricane hitting your town within hours. You will have to leave some things behind; the things you can live without. Most people’s desks are cluttered with things they can live without. Get rid of it all.
2. Go in to your email account, delete everything that is in you inbox, sent file, drafts, saved emails, and be sure to delete your delete file. It’s nothing more than useless clutter anyway.
3. Empty that file folder that is full of the junk that you saved thinking that you will get to it later. I bet some of the things in there have been collecting dust for over a year.
4. And be sure to rid yourself of all those files, downloads, booklets, videos, mp3’s, and all the other junk that is taking up space on your computer. If you haven’t read, listened to, or watched them by now, you most likely never will.
We are doing this because as the artist who creates a masterpiece starts with a clean canvas, you too must start fresh and clean as you create the tapestry of your life.
After all this is done, guess what? There is more to do.
1. Find a quiet place and get yourself settled.
2. Use three lists to write down everything that comes to mind. When you feel you have to think about it, stop!
List number one is “what do I want”. The second list is “what do I need”. The third list is “what must I have”. These could be anything. For example, I may “want” a new car, but I “need” to have my current car serviced, because “what I must have” is a ride to my appointments on Monday morning. Got it? Good.
“Get her goin’ then”, as they say down here!!!
Now that you’re thoroughly exhausted from writing down everything that comes to mind for these three lists, it ‘s time to take a break.
The real work is about to begin.
Take list number 1, and prioritize each item by numbering them. If you have 25 wants, then they will be numbered 1-25. Do this for all three lists.
Now take the top 5 items from each list. This is how you will resolve conflicts and determine which of your items will be placed on your final “to do” list.
For example, I may want to have dinner this weekend with a friend whom I haven’t seen for a while. However, I’ve made plans for the weekend and I need to honor that commitment. I also know that I must have a particular project finished before Monday morning.
I now have conflicts between my “I Want”, “I Need”, and “What I Must Have” lists. I need to place those in order of priority. Certainly decisions will have to be made and plans changed, etc.
Now go through your 3 “Top Five” lists of items and PRIORITIZE them. When you’ve finished, put them on your calendar. That’s right, put them on your calendar!!!
Now, select the next five items on each of your lists, these would be numbered 6-10. Prioritize them, and put all these on your calendar.
Continue doing this until every single item that was on each list is now on your calendar.
If you have done this, congratulations. You have just created a road map. You now have things to do, places to go, and people to see.
The purpose of this exercise is to get you to write everything down regularly. Weekly is recommended to get the best results. Simply delete items from your master list as you complete each item.
This will help you get organized, living and working more efficiently, and ultimately freeing up more time; time that was lost because you were “sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time”.
Enjoy the process. Realize that life will get in the way at times, but know that you have taken a major step forward in creating a purposeful life.
In my next post, get ready for something truly wonderful. It will answer that burning question, “now that I have done this stuff, and I created more free time, what will I do with it”?
Until then, I am,
Creating Abundance ~Worldwide~
Dom