Everything you do today influences what you’ll do tomorrow — and over time, your entire life.
Use your free time wisely.
What you do in your free time determines what you’ll be doing when you don’t have a choice.
If you’re not using your free time to direct your life where you want it to go, don’t expect to arrive at your desired destination when the rest of your time is spent being told what to do by other people.
You can’t just wish for what you want to happen — you have to work for it. And that means taking action when you have the time.
“If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” — Kevin Ngo
Balance in life is important — and taking time to simply relax and enjoy life is vital to maintaining that balance — so this is not to glorify “work”. This is only a reminder that it is important to be mindful of where you want to go in life and to take consistent steps forward if you want to have the pleasure of getting there.
Working towards your goals on a daily basis can be as simple as just reaffirming those goals (both short and long-term).
Since what you do today influences what you do tomorrow anyway, you might as well use the opportunity to influence your tomorrow in as positive & productive way as possible.
Go on, do something today that your future self will thank you for.
“If you don’t build your own dream someone else will hire you to help build theirs.” — Tony Gaskins Jr.
Follow-up:
G+ comment: What do you mean when you don’t have a choice?
Zero:
Obviously we all have a choice to do or not do something at any time (although “results/consequences may vary”).
But I mean, we all have things we WANT to do. And we all have things we feel we HAVE to do.
If these two things are not one and the same, then what we do in our “free” time (when we feel we have a CHOICE) can have a drastic impact on those things that take on the “have to do” portions of our lives (those things we feel we don’t have a choice in).
“I have to make money to survive.”
Here’s a real world example:
Teenagers who spend all their free time smoking pot and playing video games will likely find themselves in a much different set of life circumstances (of things they “have to do”) than teenagers who spend their free time being proactive in various areas of their lives (educating themselves, learning new skills…).
Another example:
If someone loves photography, and would love to have a career in photography, but spends all their free time watching TV, then that will have an impact those things in life that they feel they have to do.
If someone loves photography and spends their free time honing their photography skills, then that will lead to a much greater likelihood that what they end up “having” to do is also something they WANT to do.
If you “have” to have a career, then it certainly makes sense to make it something you enjoy doing.
By being proactive and directing your life where you want it to go, you are presented with far more opportunities than if you simply go where life directs you.
Regardless of what society “says”, as independently thinking and acting individuals, we make choices every day that can either fall in line with what society suggests, or fall in line with what we truly want (if the two are not the same).
“Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.” — Alice Walker
Related:
- The results of your actions speak louder than words
- Offsite: Do you know what you want?
- Offsite: Look closely at the present you are constructing
- Offsite: The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present
