The Prompt:

Speak Less by Laura Kimball

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know I. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I once received a fortune cookie that read: “Speak less of your plans, you’ll get more done.” What’s one project that you’ve been sitting on and thinking about but haven’t made progress on? What’s stopping you? What would happen if you actually went for it and did it?

(Author: Laura Kimball)

I’d like to see this in a different way as I have several ongoing writing and design projects on my list. Do I think I have to make progress on all of them? Yes. Do I have time to do all of them? No.

I used to think I procrastinated way too much and I should’ve get more projects done. Yes, I’m guilty of procrastination (perhaps even more than I’d dare to admit) but once I’ve thrown out the obvious – too much facebook gaming and watching TV, I should still be able to have some fun time, shouldn’t I?

All of us only have 24 hours in a day and while some of us seemed to have achieved more things than another, I firmly believe it’s a matter of prioritizing and sacrificing. We could prioritize our dream, our daytime job, family, friends, sleep, health, fun, and so on, but we have to sacrifice some of it too.

I tried to chase down every single thing on my list but to be honest, it made me feel extremely stressful. I don’t want to be the person who works 100 hours every week, trying to cross out every single possible project and forgot to enjoy life. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be thankful enough of what I’ve done so far.

There are some things in need of more sitting and thinking. Some because it has to simmer before it is ready, some because we thought other things were more important. That’s alright. Sometimes it’s even better to let it go. Especially if it’s not that one project that would manifest in your ultimate dream.