"The time we spend in developing resources is what is going to really make the difference in the future." Have you ever experienced 'downtime'? Or are you going through it right now? I have! When nothing seems to be working. When you have done everything you know how to do, yet there seems to be no progress. It gets frustrating when you find yourself stuck in an un-resourceful situation. Or when you find it is getting harder and harder to achieve your goals, despite everything that you have done. This is the 'downtime'. The system is down. What do you do when things are like this? Engage in intense positive thinking? Hope for the best? Expend more effort in your task? Blame your luck, stupidity, grandmother, nature, the whole world, or even God? Embrace your downtime! Because its one of those rare opportunities to sharpen your blade and to take a new look at yourself. That is the message of this article. How do you maximize your downtime? 1. Define your Success Assess your resourcefulness. Find those things that stand between you and your goal. If you do not have the resources to remove those things, find ways to create the resources that will do the work for you. Do this so that nothing will stand between you and your goals! Secondly, develop a sense of purpose. Know exactly where you are going and how you are going to get there. Thirdly, apply persistence to your success. There is only one condition under which you may accept failure. Accept failure as a step in the path of success! 2. Identify your Attitudes There are negative and positive attitudes, just as there are passive and 'can-do' attitudes. You have attitudes about yourself as well as about others. Identifying the attitudes that work for you and discarding those that do not work for you will help you. You can start by asking: "Which attitudes are operational in my life, and what is their outcome?" 3. Plant Right Every farmer knows that in order to have a bountiful harvest you need to plant the right seed, in the right place, at the right time, using the right method. That is the law of the harvest! Use it too during your downtime. Life is about planting seeds, and if you plant right you maximize your harvest. 4. Reframe Take responsibility for where you are by understanding your situation, identifying how this situation is impacting on you and choosing the kind of outcome you desire or prefer. When you have done this, clarify your values, so that your next steps are not going to clash with your values. And then, clean up any past memories not consistent with what you want to achieve. 5. Focus Faith Faith is deference to God, allowing him to work by his unlimited power within your limited circumstances. It also means enabling God to exercise his faith. You focus faith by having faith in God, yourself as well as others. You also focus faith by having foresight, being organized, by concentrating effort and courage, by working with understanding and by seeding and serving. It is easy to make good use of your downtime. Follow these five steps and see what difference it can make in the quality of your life. |
