“I’ve got so much stuff to do!”

(And yet, you keep stuffing more into your calendar, more stuff into your house and your rented storage unit.)

“I’ll get to it when things slow down.”

(No you won’t. Because things aren’t going to slow down on their own.)

These are some of the responses I get from women when asked how they’re being intentional in their lives. Most women want meaningful work and a remarkable life but they stuff their days so full with bizziness, activity, and other people’s demands that they don’t have any space to breathe or think or dream. 

And they don’t even have space  or time or bandwidth to decide what’s important and meaningful in the first place. And so they live an average life. A mediocre life. And probably come to the end with a regret or two. But that’s not you. Or is it?

If you’re in mid-career, midlife, or beyond, you do realize that you don’t get a do-over, right? 

I’m not trying to stress you out, but if the pandemic taught us anything it’s that life is fragile and sometimes short. If you want to live a life that’s remarkable, if you want to do work that’s meaningful, and if you want to leave a legacy that you can be proud of, then you need to be proactive.

 

And don’t wait. 

What are you waiting for anyway?

Do you think your fairy godmother is going to show up with her magic wand and fairy dust and magically make things slow down for you? 

Are you waiting for a worldwide pandemic to come along and shut everything down so you can really see what’s important? 

(Oh wait, we already had a worldwide pandemic.)

Do you expect Marie Kondo herself to come over and, well, Marie Kondo your life?

Sorry, Charlie. That’s an inside job.