The Secret To Make “Doing Nothing” Serve Your Vision
"Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something."
Winnie the Pooh
Do you ever mindlessly scroll through headlines, YouTube videos or social media feeds on your iPhone, just “killing time” in between other, more important tasks?
When you have downtime it can feel like you’re just “doing nothing.”
But is that even a real thing?
Aren’t we always doing something, even if it just feels like filler between things that matter?
If you added up all of the time spent “doing nothing” or “killing time” it would add up to hundreds if not thousands of hours of your life.
And all of that time has been cultivating your thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and self-image.
It’s not a good or bad thing - but it’s not “nothing,” either!
The problem lies in how you perceive your time.
When you view your downtime as “killing time” or “doing nothing” it implies that you are directionless in those moments.
That your time isn’t important or valuable.
So even when it feels like you’re not doing anything, you might be installing a perception of yourself that you don’t really love.
But what if you could experience your downtime intentionally, using it to serve your vision, and actually feeling good about yourself?
All you have to do is change the perception of your time.
And a really fun and easy way to do that is to ask this one simple question:
“How would the man/woman in my vision experience this time?”
Put yourself into your vision, and imagine how that version of you is approaching his/her spare time.
"I didn’t always know what I wanted to do, but I knew the kind of woman (person) I wanted to be."
Diane Von Furstenberg
Maybe he looks through social media posts too, but with the intention of celebrating all of the wins he sees his friends having, instead of just zoning out.
Or maybe she uses her downtime to do self-care activities that make her feel nourished and rejuvenated, like taking a walk, taking a nap, ordering a fabulous lunch or chatting with a girlfriend.
The point is, all of your time IS meaningful, and when you focus on being the version of you already living your vision, everything you do is inherently in service of your vision.
Isn’t that awesome?
So enjoy your time, and take comfort in knowing that it IS aligning you to your vision just as much as anything you could put on a to-do-list.