Sometimes I get caught up in the hustle of just surviving.
My to-do list is out of control. I feel like I’m in a pinball machine, deflecting from one bumper to the next, reacting rather than controlling the situation.
By the end of the day I’m exhausted, but I can’t tell you if I’ve done anything that really mattered.
Then, five years ago, inspired by both Greg McKeown’s Essentialism and author Donald Miller, I came up with one sentence that acts as THE filter for everything I do:
My life theme is to love, serve, and care for my family, friends, neighbors, and others, relentlessly pursuing “less but better,” and striving to go above and beyond, living boldly from a mindset, not of scarcity and fear, but love and abundance.
Every morning I recite this sentence. It helps me with decision making. Things I used to say yes to I now say no to. Things I used to say no to I now say yes to.
If you have trouble with decision making, if you have a hard time seeing your life from a 30,000-foot view, come up with your own life theme. In one sentence, what are you about? Why are you here? Write it down or put it as your phone’s screensaver, and start living from that center. I hope it helps.
Love,
Aaron