Fitting It All In

How in (insert deity of choice here)'s name am I supposed to fit in everything I want to do in my life in the remaining twenty-five or so active years I probably have left? Should I even try? Will the simple act of trying to cram in too much 'doing' and not enough 'simply being' in fact push me too hard and punch my ticket ahead of schedule early?

My life at forty-eight can best be described as The Battle of the To-Do List and I'm not winning. Not winning in a New Year's Resolutions kind of way and really not winning on a day-to-day basis.

It takes me a week longer than it should to cut the lawn, a month longer to assemble IKEA furniture and it took me four months to get around to putting together my new barbeque. And that's the little shit. On a bigger scale, I still haven't taken flying lessons, or been to Paris, or gone bungee jumping. I haven't learned to inline skate (I've had high-end Rollerblades for two years!) and I sure as hell haven't run the marathon I was supposed to do before I turned forty.

I haven't sold my screenplays (I did try, but that was eight years ago), I've only just started the final edit on my ten-years-in-the-writing breakthrough novel, and I have an epic fantasy novel I started twenty-seven years ago but shelved for one reason or another and probably will never get back to. The coffee table book of my own photos remains in the concept stage and my two dogs still aren't fully housebroken. And let's not even discuss how much golf I'm not playing or how many times I'm not on stage!

What's holding me back? I don't know, maybe eating, sleeping, spending time with my lady ... the usual stuff. Oh, and I suppose we should factor in the bit about me being a lazy fuck.

So, how do I get motivated for more than a few days at a time? If I take time to read motivational books or watch motivational DVDs, then I've once again taken time from the other stuff on the dreaded To Do List. Damn.

Part of the problem I suppose is that I've let myself get out of shape (again), so I lack the necessary energy to get it all done. To solve that problem, though, I need to eat better (spend time prepping and cooking instead of driving-thru) and get some exercise (run, bike, hike, blade) --- but those things will take time away from the few things on the list that I actually do get done. It a vicious circle. Or is that viscous? Don't know, and I don't have time to ponder it too deeply.

Maybe I should set achievable goals, you suggest helpfully. Really? They're ALL achievable. None of my goals is unrealistic or outside of my skill set. as a matter of fact, I've been accused of seriously underachieving, even though I've already written three novels, including one entirely over a long weekend. I've edited another writer's novel for publication and it's currently on shelves around the world. I've written and published TWO editions of an original self-help book (not about time management!) and I've got two book signings scheduled in the next five weeks.

But there's so much more I want to do, dammit! I know that I could die tomorrow and none of it would get done, but if I'm not dead, I want to be doing. Doing, creating, making, being above and beyond. ALL of it.

Lately my problem is that the list is so overwhelming that I get NOTHING done instead of one or two somethings completed. I suppose I need to get to the heart of the problem and start with fitness. They say it's at the core of everything (which I should know, having once worked in a fitness facility). Only one way to find out, I suppose --- I'll look it up on line when I'm done here. Yah. Right.

Gimme a hand out of this chair and I'll go for a bike ride. Come on. Grab my hand and pull. HARDER! Oh, never mind. I should check my email while I'm at me desk anyway. Check back in an hour, willya, and bring pizza.

That's all I have to say about that.

Ciao for now.

Tim Reynolds
Author of Stand Up & Succeed
www.StandUpAndSucceed.com