Anytime you want. It doesn’t have to begin on Monday morning, or Sunday evening, or whenever your standard “start time” is… You’ve botched a couple of days, or got sick? Okay. It happens. Breathe, and start your week when you decide to start it. Now. In an hour. Tomorrow morning.
With room for restarts. Restarts are allowed.
Expecting success, not perfection. A focus on perfection has a way of nullifying any good work you do. Aim for excellence, by all means. But do not let an impossible standard of perfection ruin the goodness of your excellent work.
By being aware. You’re here, right now. You’ve got these moments, these particular possibilities. Choices. Certain advantages and disadvantages. Specific opportunities that will come and go. A situation, in an utterly unique combination of time, space, experience, personality, and possibility, that is yours and yours alone.
By taking care of your body and brain. You’re a machine, a human machine, a human production machine, a human creative production machine. Take care of the machine: feed it, water it, rest it, exercise it, maintain it the way it needs to be maintained. Body and brain need sustenance and rest. Give it to them in the right amounts, good quality, no feeling guilty. It’s good sense. It’s taking care of your ability to produce so you can continue being productive.
With respect. For yourself and for everyone you encounter. Start there. In fact, if you get nothing else right, get this right and you’ll be doing pretty good.
With kindness. Don’t be a grump. If you’re being a grump, be quiet. Don’t ruin the day for everybody around you. Sit up straight and breathe deep. Take breaks. Stand up, walk around, look out the window. Quit being so hard on yourself. Let the voices in your head rage for a moment; don’t argue with them. Be quiet until they realize you’re not listening. Say things that are positive and true to yourself, to others.
With perspective. Everything matters to a degree. What matters to the highest degree? What three things shift your world significantly? What three things fill it up to 80%? Focus on those things.
With focus. Within the areas that matter to you, in your reality, there is only so much you can or need to do in a week. All is not better than enough. Enough is enough. Do what is enough. Focus on enough. Get to enough.
With the right amount of preparation. You know what that is. Don’t let preparation become procrastination.
With beauty. Music: turn some on. Poetry: read some. Go for a walk; admire the snow-covered trees or those fierce little flowers that brave the winds of March. Laughter is beauty. A clean desk is beauty. A pile of books you love is beauty. A simple meal is beauty. A kind conversation is beauty.
With hope. Hope is positive expectation. Hope is sitting still at your desk for a moment, before you get to work, and realizing that you are going to do the work, and you are going to reach your goals, and you are going to see what you’re looking for. Desire is the fuel, hope is the steering wheel.