Young to Old
Memory is in your mind. When you are young there are fewer memories to access. But your memory bank gets pretty crowded by the time you retire.
The hope is that you have made a lot of good memories and have experienced very few bad memories.
We are easily distracted by friends and pets and wildlife when we are young. And the same could be said when we are old.
However, the discipline you develop between being young and being old will determine how well you retire. You must find a way to avoid distractions!
Your Response to Being Responsible
You will find that not everyone has responded well to being responsible.
Most of us enjoy being able to do what we want to do. However, responsibilities often get in the way of that. Your attitude towards your responsibilities will affect your success with them.
Taking on responsibility is a sign of your growing maturity, especially with your commitment to others, including family, friends, spouse, employer, and your personal stewardship.
Stewardship is defined as the careful, responsible, and ethical management of something entrusted to a person’s or group’s care. Essentially, you are the caretaker of your resources, as well as the natural resources around you.
I do hope you will respond well to being responsible and become a good steward over your resources.
Pressing Matters
There are short-term things to remember. And there are long-term things to remember. Among those things will be some pressing matters. Often those pressing matters come with discomfort and hard work that interferes with your regular schedule.
That is part of being responsible. Plan to manage those pressing matters that will often become more difficult if not addressed in a timely manner.
Plan to address those pressing matters. And remember that you are being responsible.
Planning Daily Helps You Remember
Planning may seem like a waste of time until you forget something. There are tools that can help you plan to remember. Your watch, your phone, and your calendar.
The basis of your daily plans must relate to every aspect of your life—your job, your family, your education, your health, and your finances. Pay attention to what needs attention.
Your work schedule, your leisure time schedule, and medical appointments are just a few examples of why planning is important. If you intend to give your health the attention it deserves, you must allow time to eat properly and exercise. Are you currently planning daily?
A lot of those activities to schedule will help you make some good memories. Your work will be more rewarding when you do your best to learn to do your job well. Your leisure time will benefit you more when you can relax and reflect, when you can recreate yourself. Your health will be better if you listen to your body’s needs, get medical attention, exercise, and eat nourishing food and less risky foods with too much fat and sugar.
It will be hard to remember everything. But the more you try the greater your success will be at planning.
Get beyond seeing yourself with limits and open your mind for more potential. Reading will help you see the options in your life decisions. And it might help you set some goals that can take you beyond what you thought was possible!
Include time for reading in your plans!
Plan to Use Time
Time is a commodity. We all have the same amount of time each day. How you use that time determines a lot about what you learn, what you achieve, how you affect others, and how well you handle your finances.
Planning affects how you live. And though money is important, how you live is more important. That will affect how you get income and how much you value your stewardship of that money, your financial resources.
Time is a resource, as well. Make good use of it. Value the time you have available.
Plan to Make Time
I often reflect on a poem I found after my grandmother’s passing. She was one of the busiest, most efficient people I ever knew. They had a farm, where they milked cows by hand and raised a big garden. My grandma helped with the milking, made three meals per day for my uncle and grandpa, tended the garden and canned food, and raised chickens for eggs and meat.
The poem goes like this:
“Of all the excuses by which this old world is accursed, this haven’t got time is the poorest, the feeblest, the worst.
A delusion it is and a snare. If the habit is yours, you should shake it. For, if you want to do what is pleasing to you, you’ll find time to do it or make it.”
–Anonymous
My grandmother was a good cook and enjoyed feeding everyone who came to visit. We all loved her homemade bread and homemade jams and jelly. She always made enough to share with others. That made her happy!
I am thankful for her influence. But my point here is that when you plan you must give value to what appears to need attention and what is most important to you. Then, you will have a way to know when to get things done and where to fit in the things that are “pleasing to you”.
Use the Calendar
Visuals are helpful. You buy those calendars with pictures that appeal to us, like a beach scene, etc. However, unless you make notes on your calendar, you might as well just look for the date on your phone.
Make notes on your calendar. Not all your activities, just the ones you need to help you remember dates and times for appointments, events, and special occasions.
You can get so wrapped up in making daily plans that you might lose sight of your calendar notes. So be sure to schedule time to review your calendar!
Use That Clock
Whether you observe a clock or use a timer on your phone, you can devise a way to help you focus on the task at hand. Without focus, you could allow your mind to wander.
Noise is an enemy to focus. Control the noise around you. Most of us have trouble focusing for long periods of time, so try some tricks to help you focus when you must.
A fellow blogger offered a tip that he uses to help him focus. He sets his timer for thirty minutes or so and when the alarm goes off, he stops and takes a short break before restarting the timer. This practice has helped him to be more productive.
Experiment for yourself. But remember that time is your resource for making your stewardship more rewarding. Your use of time is your responsibility.
Love Those Around You
Your time is important to you. And your time is important to others, especially your family. Show your love by sharing time with them.
Plan to take care of yourself. Others want you to be around for a long time.
Work to create an income and plan to save enough money to invest and retire in good financial shape. Be a good steward with what you have as resources.
Schedule and plan time with family and friends. Those are the memories you want to make and be able to store in your mind. Then, you can look back in your retirement to many fond memories!