Monsters

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn’t become a monster ~ Frederich Nietzsche

I would not have published three novels if I had not followed routines religiously. Setting daily goals and accomplishing those goals in a certain order has also helped me become more efficient at my job, and more organized at home as well.

Holiday rituals are routines as well. I’m sure you have certain traditions you look forward to and follow when it comes to Thanksgiving, Christmas, even the summer holiday weekends.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned lately about routines in not turning into a monster to achieve them. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with stopping at nothing to achieve a goal. Once you have things under control, it’s okay to let things go on autopilot. Life does get in the way and you have to take care of life stuff first sometimes.

For example, every Labor Day weekend, my mother’s family has a big family reunion. We do hamburgers and hot dogs on Saturday night and a big potluck on Sunday. We’ve done this for sixteen years. But this year, I had to forego the family reunion to take a trip to Denver, Colorado to finish some business from my separated spouse who passed away. As much as I wanted to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins and catch them up on my current life adventures, my business trumped my routine.

Now I could have said, I have a family reunion to go to, so the business trip must wait. It was more important to get the business taken care of. I couldn’t allow myself to become a monster to because of my labor day routines.

Tell me about a time you refused to become a monster despite your drive to accomplish goals and routines?



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Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Develop and Follow Routines