This week, I've had to revisit my own advice and reflect deeply on my commitments, including reviewing notes from books like "Eat That Frog." For over five years, I've proudly served on the council for Weightlifting Western Australia, supporting Olympic weightlifters across our region.
When I joined the council I was a very active weightlifter, a member of a large local club and my the majority of my life was dedicated to weightlifting (read #3 for more on that).
Over the last 5 years a considerable amount has changed; I’ve become a husband, a father, a senior manager and a business owner and not to mention someone who likes to stay fit and is no longer an athlete.
I have many things in my life that not only require my attention, but deserve my attention. Despite still having a passion for weightlifting it is something that is no longer a priority in my life.
After much internal debate, I've concluded that stepping down from the council is the right decision. Despite my enthusiasm for contributing more and implementing new ideas, my focus is spread too thin.
As I sit here writing, I still haven’t called the council President to inform them that I’ll be announcing it at the meeting later on today. Here lies my procrastination.
The story I am telling myself for putting off this call is that I feel like I am letting the council down, I feel like a failure for giving it up and I care what the other council members will think.
However, the reasons to give up this role are far greater. My focus is spread too thin, I am not being the best dad or husband because:
I’m spending time away from family to attend council meetings, volunteer at competitions and not be present when responding to council emails and discussions.
I’m not able to balance the role of business owner because the time away from family is being split to the council and my business.
I’m frustrated at decisions that fundamentally do not affect me, but they have a detrimental impact on my home life.
Writing this has given me the courage to make the necessary call. Though daunting, I feel a wave of relief having made this choice. As human beings, even with all the productivity insights and self-help books, such decisions are never easy.
The story I was telling myself about what might happen, was just that “a story”. Sometimes the best thing we can do is put ourselves through a bit of pain and discomfort to get us in a space where we can start to thrive.
“If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long” - Brian Tracey, Eat that Frog
Now I can focus on my priorities of my family, my health and my wealth.
Cut out distractions and be clear on what your priorities are.
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