Along the journey of life, it is good from time to time to stop, and take inventory of where we are. When we do this, we want to do our best to separate ourselves from the “treadmill”, so to speak, and try to take an outside observer’s view of ourselves.

I am not talking about a weekly review. I am talking about something we should do once or twice a year.

I am talking about asking ourselves objectively…

1. Are we on track with our goals?
2. Are we living in tune with those things that we value most?
3. What are we doing that can distract us from achieving our goals?

That having been said, this post is as much to me…as it is any other reader.

Though I have not taken a sabbatical or had a prolonged time of reflection, I have recently been pondering these questions and others to try to calibrate my own compass.

Change is not easy. Sometimes, the need for change can lead to a pattern of procrastination and self rejection. The truth is, however, that if we want our lives to be differnt…it is up to us to make it happen.

I was inspired the other day when I read a quote from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

In developing our own self-awareness, many of us discover ineffective scripts, deeply embedded habits that are totally unworthy of us, totally incongruent with the things we really value in life. We are responsible to use our imagination and creativity to write new ones that are more effective, more congruent with our deepest values and with the correct principles that give our values meaning.

So I look at myself and recognize there there are some scripts that I need to rewrite…some things I need to do differently.

So how do I plan to approach this?

1. I need to review my goals and make adjustments where necessary
2. I need to evaluate those things that consume my time, and test them against the things I value
3. I need to work to determine what things create extra “noise” in my life and steal my focus
4. I need to then draw up a plan to eliminate those things that are not consistent with my goals
5. Most importantly…execute the plan

What kinds of things do you do to help you eliminate ineffective habits?

Let’s talk about it here.