Craziness in life is inevitable. Situations change. Things go wrong. Your luck turns. And you have a lot of adult responsibilities to catch up on. How do you stay focused on your major life goals when those crazy times eventually occur?
I just went through one of those crazy times myself (hence, why I haven’t blogged in a couple months). I started a new job with bigger responsibilities. We had condo repairs to complete. And we squeezed in a 2 week vacation to Spain and Morocco (which was amazing by the way, definitely go there during your Year Off).
We all go through times like these, so it’s difficult to find the spare time for the pursuit of greater passions and life goals. So how do you weather the storm and stay focused on your goal of a Year Off?
Have a clear, well-defined goal.
Knowing exactly what you want to accomplish will keep you focused during the rough stretches. A Year Off is a very clear, well-defined goal. You should know exactly when you want to begin your Year Off by calculating your Year Off Age.
Know what dreams and passions you want to pursue as well. If you have no idea what you want to accomplish during your Year Off, wait until the craziness of your present life settles down and begin brainstorming ideas. Think about what you always dreamed of doing when you were a kid. Figure out how to become that person when you finally have the time during your Year Off.
Having goals and passions to pursue will help you endure the rough stretches of life and will give you something to look forward to in the future.
Write your goals down and put them somewhere you will see them every day.
Keep your focus by creating a visual reminder of your Year Off goal. On a post-it note, write “I want to take a Year Off at the age of …….” and put it on your fridge or mirror.
Also write out what you want to accomplish during your Year Off. If you want to travel, write out the countries you want to travel to. If you want to get better at an activity, write out your personal goals related to it. For example, if you want to get better at mountaineering, write down what mountains you want to climb.
Keep other visual reminders around as well. Make the background picture on your phone or computer a picture of a travel destination. Buy a book about long-term travel and keep it sitting on your table. Pick out a theme song for your Year Off and play it in your car every day on your drive to work.
Create a to-do list and complete it as quickly as possible.
I like to use a simple note document on my iPhone to create a to-do list. Then I start knocking the to-dos out one by one. Try to add as many tasks as possible so you can get most of your catching-up-on-life done in a few weeks.
Prioritize your to-do list and complete the most pressing and difficult tasks first. Then continue on to the rest. When you complete a task, delete it from the list. When everything is complete, continue on with your Year Off planning.
Know what “caught up on life” looks like for you.
For me, “caught up on life” means I have no to-do lists. Everything around the house is functioning properly, and there is nothing to fix. I can easily separate my work-life from my home-life. I feel healthy and active, and there are no pressing issues between my wife and I. That’s what “caught up on life” looks like for me.
Think about what “caught up on life” would look life for you. Think about a time when everything in your life seemed settled and you had no big worries or pressing issues to deal with. That is the goal when the crazy times occur.
Perfection is not the goal.
It’s not easy to determine what issues to deal with now and what issues to forget. If you determine that you don’t have the resources or the time to fix a problem, leave it off your to-do list and forget about it for now. If it’s truly an issue, it will pop up later in life and you can address it then.
Do what you can to get to your happy, caught-up-on-life place, then forget about the rest of your problems and just focus on your Year Off. Don’t try to be too perfect. Perfection will drive you crazy.
Caught-up-on-life creates mental room for your biggest dreams.
You have a clear goal and visual reminders of your goal, your to-do lists are complete, and perfection is not consuming you. That’s when your mind wanders and you dream up some big plans for an incredible year of doing whatever-the-hell-you-want. You have the time to create Year Off to-do lists and you start checking them off, one by one, until day 1 has arrived and you’re embarking on the journey of a lifetime.