FIVE MINUTES TO CREATE MOMENTUM

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. 

It is always the same step, but you have to take it."

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

As we seek to nurture the goose that produces the golden eggs, Stephen Covey suggests four areas to focus on for personal renewal:

• Physical 
• Social/Emotional 
• Mental
• Spiritual

The key to success in each of these areas is to take very small steps each day. To begin nurturing these four areas, I’m asking you to spend five focused minutes today in any category that you know needs attention. If you feel good about your direction in one or more of these areas, continue moving forward and monitor your progress.

What I’m asking is for you to plan five intentional minutes in your sub-par categories today. If your physical dimension is lacking, then plan to go for a five-minute walk. Right now, decide what time you will do this and mark it on your calendar. 

“A five minute walk,” you say. “How can that help anybody?”

The power in this exercise is that you are intentionally doing something. You are telling yourself that physical exercise is important to you and, beginning today, you are going to do something about it. There is power in commitment.  

“If you want to move a mountain you must move it one rock at a time.” 

If your deficiency is in the spiritual category then you need to plan an intentional five minute activity today. This could be as simple as praying for five minutes during a break at work, meditating for five minutes, reading the Bible for five minutes or working for five minutes on the Bible study that you’ve been neglecting. Again, intentionality is the key.

In the social/emotional category, you could spend five minutes writing an email to a friend you haven’t connected with in a while. Or you could call a friend and set up a lunch date for next week. Or call and set a reservation for a date-night with your spouse. Five minutes is all it takes.

In the mental category, the easiest suggestion is to read for five minutes. Again, be intentional and creative.

Today is about taking a baby step to build momentum. The reason we don’t begin so often is because we feel that our effort will not yield significant results. This is exactly the wrong way to think of this exercise.

This is about intentionally choosing to take a step in a positive direction. If you are not doing well in any of these categories, you can gain momentum in only five minutes.

What are you waiting for? The hardest step is the first one!

Do you have suggestions for 5-minute activities that can help us gain momentum in any of these categories? Please post comments below.

SHARPEN THE SAW

"Our first energies should go to our own character development,

which is often invisible to others, like the roots that sustain great trees. As we cultivate the roots, we will begin to see the fruits."
~Stephen R. Covey

Silent Water Drops by Nico van der Merwe

Last week, I completed a training for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The often overlooked habit is Habit 7: “Sharpen the Saw.” This is the habit of personal renewal.

Covey uses Aesop’s fable of The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg to discuss taking care of ourselves. Below is one version of the tale:

THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS

A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.

This really is a powerful story about nurturing that which produces. Using habit 7, we not only focus on producing golden eggs (which occurs as we follow the habits), but we also focus on nurturing the goose that lays those eggs (ourselves).

Covey defines four dimensions to focus on as we seek personal renewal:

1. Physical 
2. Social/Emotional 
3. Mental 
4. Spiritual

We simply cannot continue producing golden eggs if we are not taking care of these core areas of our lives. And, yet, aren’t these four of the areas that tend to be forgotten when we are busy, stressed, and out of time?

I encourage you to keep a 3x5 index card in your pocket keeping track of your success in each of these areas. Simply write each of the four words on the left side of the card and give yourself a rating from 1-10. I suggest doing this each Sunday and keeping the card with you throughout the week.

A saying that we use in education circles repeatedly is: “That which gets monitored gets done.” By choosing to focus on these four areas, we will stay mindful of their importance.

Over the next few days, I will share my thoughts on nurturing these four areas of our lives.

What are you focusing on today? Are you nurturing the goose or looking for shortcuts to produce more golden eggs?

Live intentionally today!