Have you ever looked back at your week and wondered where the time has gone? Have you thought that you wasted it, or were not as focused as you should be? Have you stared at your to do list and wonder why it looks the same? Some days we are more aware of what we are doing than others. But do you realize there are two kinds of time and both are needed for success?
Recognize the difference between inner and outer time
Inner time is what makes things happen. Outer time is simply the doing. So guess which is most important – the inner time, of course. Sometimes tapping into our inner wisdom looks like we are doing nothing – just sitting there in the sunshine watching the flowers grow. But when you allow your intuition and your inner guidance time to speak to you, the messages are awesome and tap into your deepest wisdom.
You’ll find answers in the silence
You have to be still in order to hear your inner guidance. You cannot fill your mind with plans and lists and worries. You have to let go and allow your inner wisdom to give you new insights, new ideas, and new possibilities. So where in your busy day do you schedule in silence? Or do you?
How to tap your inner well
Be a sheet of paper with nothing on it.
Be a spot of ground where nothing is growing,
Where something might be planted,
A seed, possibly, from the absolute.
— Rumi
You have to be still in order to hear. Create a daily Ritual of Renewal for yourself in which you give gratitude for what you have and open yourself to guidance for the coming day. You might create a Ritual of Completion either at the end of your work day or the end of your completed day. During those times listen, journal if you like, write in your gratitude list – whatever renews and replenishes you.
In the silence become aware of what you need to release in order to move forward. Explore your passion around certain ideas you have. See what nudges you get for possible next steps. But most of all trust what you hear in the silence.
How to capture your ideas without going off track
As entrepreneurs we have tons of ideas, each one seemingly better than the last one. However, those ideas can pull us way off track. Create an idea list and when an idea comes up, write it down, then go back to what you were doing. You have captured the concept, it is there waiting for you, and you can stay focused on the task at hand. Some of my best ideas come just as I wake up. I immediately capture them on my idea list. Sometimes they come in the middle of the night and also make it to paper. I often come out of my morning meditation and have to start capturing and developing an idea. Simply write it down on your Major Idea list and keep doing what you were doing.
Chose your most receptive time to create
When I begin my work day I tune into my current energy – what do I feel like doing first? My most creative time is morning so I often choose to write but I let my intuition choose the project rather than mechanically following my To Do list. I write before I open email. It is a time for moving my ideas from the inner plane to the outer.
The idea for this article came from Mike Dooly who writes the Tut sayings. He said “Nothing is ever lost. Not time; for what seems to have passed, lives on in the wisdom of future decisions.” I liked the idea that during those times of silence, those moments of seemingly unfocused activivity that inner work is being done that adds to the wisdom of my future decisions.
Live deliberately
Henry Thoreau had the right idea when he said, “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rest all that was not life. And not, when I came to die, discover I had not lived.” Are you living deliberately? Are you living in conscious awareness?
I like to take conscious pauses during my day – to relax my shoulders, look out the window, change the rhythm of my thinking. It is in those times of stillness that clarity comes, new resolve returns, and an adventurous step can be taken. Schedule time for your inner work and watch what wonders manifest!
