I'm thankful to live in a country where I am safe and where I am free to pursue the things that matter most.
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Freedom
I'm thankful to live in a country where I am safe and where I am free to pursue the things that matter most.
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Things That Matter Most
Some things simply matter more than others. Those words have resonated with me ever since I first heard them uttered in relation to the atonement versus other gospel topics. I understand that life is short, and that I can’t do everything. I must choose who I am going to be, and just as importantly, who I am not going to be. I make that choice through how I spend my time
Let me give some background on how I decided who I wanted to be, and how I wanted to spend my time—the things that matter most to me. From 2005 to 2007, I was a missionary in the Washington Tacoma Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There I had many experiences that I would never trade for anything, and many I would. The first councilor in our mission presidency was President Anderson, and he was big on goal setting and achievement. He used a 9 box method. Each box represented a different category in his life, and for each category he would come up with a few items to be working on. I tried this approach numerous times, but it was hard to figure out nine categories with attached goals, and to remember them so I could work on them. It seemed a little overwhelming.
After a lot of drawing boxes, categorizing those boxes, refining those boxes, throwing the paper with the boxes away, and repeating the process, I decided I needed to simplify it a bit. I narrowed it down five things that I want my life to be defined by. For the alliterate type, I call them Farnsworth’s Five F’s. To me they represent the things that matter most—the things I want to spend my time and my efforts developing and pursuing. They are faith, family, friends, finance, and fitness.
Faith- If I had to boil my list down to the most important thing, this category would be it. My relationship with God is the single most important relationship I have. It is the most destiny-changing one. If I am faithful to God, keep the commandments, repent, and make covenants, I am promised everything God has can be mine.
Family- No success outside of the home can compensate for failure within the home. My family is my legacy. I need to teach them, to nurture them, and to love them so that we can all reach our potential and so that I can look back on my life and feel good about it. This category is forward looking, but also deals with my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
Friends- When I look back on my life, I’m sure that I will define myself by the relationships I’ve had and maintained. My friends help life to be fun. They influence everything about me from how I spend my time, to what entertainment I watch, to what I think and feel and do.
Finance – In this category I lump saving, spending, and career. If you know me, you know this category is fascinating to me. I love to save and to see the power of compound interest working. I love to spend wisely. I spend a lot of my life working at my job, so I want it to be something I enjoy and that I feel is worthwhile.
Fitness- Last but not least is fitness. I believe that the quality of your life is directly impacted by your health. It is important to me to eat healthy foods, see doctors regularly, and to exercise. There is a lot of room for improvement here, but I recognize its importance.
Faith, family, friends, finance, and fitness are all very important to me. If something takes me away from or distracts me from them, then I don’t want to think it, waste time on it, or pursue it. These are the things that will define my life—they truly are the things that matter most...
Let me give some background on how I decided who I wanted to be, and how I wanted to spend my time—the things that matter most to me. From 2005 to 2007, I was a missionary in the Washington Tacoma Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There I had many experiences that I would never trade for anything, and many I would. The first councilor in our mission presidency was President Anderson, and he was big on goal setting and achievement. He used a 9 box method. Each box represented a different category in his life, and for each category he would come up with a few items to be working on. I tried this approach numerous times, but it was hard to figure out nine categories with attached goals, and to remember them so I could work on them. It seemed a little overwhelming.
After a lot of drawing boxes, categorizing those boxes, refining those boxes, throwing the paper with the boxes away, and repeating the process, I decided I needed to simplify it a bit. I narrowed it down five things that I want my life to be defined by. For the alliterate type, I call them Farnsworth’s Five F’s. To me they represent the things that matter most—the things I want to spend my time and my efforts developing and pursuing. They are faith, family, friends, finance, and fitness.
Faith- If I had to boil my list down to the most important thing, this category would be it. My relationship with God is the single most important relationship I have. It is the most destiny-changing one. If I am faithful to God, keep the commandments, repent, and make covenants, I am promised everything God has can be mine.
Family- No success outside of the home can compensate for failure within the home. My family is my legacy. I need to teach them, to nurture them, and to love them so that we can all reach our potential and so that I can look back on my life and feel good about it. This category is forward looking, but also deals with my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
Friends- When I look back on my life, I’m sure that I will define myself by the relationships I’ve had and maintained. My friends help life to be fun. They influence everything about me from how I spend my time, to what entertainment I watch, to what I think and feel and do.
Finance – In this category I lump saving, spending, and career. If you know me, you know this category is fascinating to me. I love to save and to see the power of compound interest working. I love to spend wisely. I spend a lot of my life working at my job, so I want it to be something I enjoy and that I feel is worthwhile.
Fitness- Last but not least is fitness. I believe that the quality of your life is directly impacted by your health. It is important to me to eat healthy foods, see doctors regularly, and to exercise. There is a lot of room for improvement here, but I recognize its importance.
Faith, family, friends, finance, and fitness are all very important to me. If something takes me away from or distracts me from them, then I don’t want to think it, waste time on it, or pursue it. These are the things that will define my life—they truly are the things that matter most...
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