302-Intentional Margins® Pillars Part 2 of 2

Part two of our Intentional Margins® pillars is a deeper dive into examples of how you might establish your own pillars. 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and yesterday we talked about creating 4 pillars, like buckets, categories for where we think our Intentional Margins® fall.  Today, I wanted to go a little deeper into those pillars with some examples to help you sort out how this would work for you. 

 

I am going to share 4 pillars as a guide. First, connection with your community. Second Family time both individually and together.  Third Health and Finally Work.  

 

Let’s dive in.  The community pillar could look like coffee or a happy hour, or attending a larger gathering like a conference. For me, it could be the weekly coffee chat in my membership community. 

 

Family time can look like family game night, something we all enjoy and do together.  It can also look like one on one time with each of my family members doing something they enjoy. 

 

Health can be tricky right and there are so many ways to go about it.  Perhaps it’s movement.  This could look like time walking in nature to prioritize my physical health and mental well being.  It could also be conscious healthy eating - being mindful of what we put into our bodies.  Or maybe it’s a renewed commitment to taking those daily vitamins.  

 

For work, that is purposeful and fulfilling it can look like head down on a project.  Perhaps it’s finishing something or writing a book.  For me, it’s launching kindness cards - a new product line and store this quarter.   

 

So, as you can see with these 4 pillars, and you can make up your own, there are 2 very similar ones, connection with other people.  Connection is a value that brings me increased happiness, so it is a very high priority for me.  For you, maybe one pillar is enough in the connection space.  

 

We also have health and work.  Work could easily be a hobby for you.  I kept in the businessy one because sometimes, when you are doing something new, or you have a big thing going on, it takes priority and that’s ok.  This is a season.  And some seasons look like more work.  Now how the time gets allotted is a different question, it’s not all equal.   

 

Are you with me?  Do you see where we are going with this?  If we wake up in the morning and look at our to-do list and our email, which is just another to-do list and start reacting to the day, we haven’t done ourselves any favors.  We haven’t prioritized our pillars.  

 

In this example, kindness cards get the bulk of the day when the children are at school.  And because I make it a priority for the day, I am unavailable for the less urgent tasks - they wait.  

 

Health shows up in a 30 minute walk 5 times a week.  We’ll do family game night on Friday night at 6:00 pm so I can feel connected with my family.  Saturday morning I’ll sneak out for an hour to have coffee with a friend.  The remaining weekend I will devote myself to tasks around the house that set me up for a successful week, that looks like laundry for me. 

 

The weekend is also time to be with my family as we run to and from activities or play outside.  Sometimes my husband and I run errands together, it’s so much more fun with a partner in crime.  So I enjoy that time when he accompanies me.     

 

This is one example to identify pillars and see how they show up on your calendar.  I would guess if connection is a pillar and you’ve been head down in your office for 3 days straight, you are going to start to feel out of balance.  It’s a process and I invite you to experiment with it exactly the way that fits your life.  

 

Until next time, remember, kindness is contagious.  

 

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