THE LAZY GENIUS WAY
In my season of life, there are few books I read start to finish. I love to read, but my time is limited. So I often find myself skimming, skipping entire chapters, or abandoning books all together.
This book, The Lazy Genius, by Kendra Adachi, I read from front to back and am seriously debating reading it again. It was that great of a read. And, if I don’t reread it again with the same intensity, I am committing to going through and taking notes on the highlights of the book. I’ll focus on what spoke to me most so I can continue to keep it front and center of my day-to-day life.
This book is both thought-provoking and full of applicable action steps on how to build your life around what matters most, but more specifically, around what matters most to YOU. I’m in awe of the times that I have lost track of the fact that I AM IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE. I’m the actual architect. I get to build my schedule. I get to fill my time and my calendar with what MATTERS MOST to me and my people. How freeing this has been. This book has left me with this beautiful filter.
As I plan my monthly, weekly or daily schedule, I hear myself saying “what matters most?”
I even went as far as to journal this before I began to build my February calendar this month. I took about 5 minutes, pondered the question and jotted down a few activities that needed to be on the calendar before anything else because “they mattered most.” Holy cow, this felt great. I felt like a champion really. Yes, I knew this could mean that I was going to say “no” to a few things that I may have previously said “yes” to, but I also knew at the end of the month I was going to stand proud in that we accomplished because it reflected our values of what mattered most.
I also heard this whisper in my mind the other day as my precious, well-crafted out routine was under attack. I took a breath and thought, “What matters most right now?” And, in that breath, in that thought, I determined what was important and made my decision from a very clear, grounded place. What peace!
The peace I found was a result of the premise of the book, which I believe to be building a life full of what matters most.
From the chapter on building routines, Kendra wrote “Routines are on-ramps to somewhere else, not destinations themselves.” My interruption that day was an unscheduled visit from a person- a person my family really loves. This person was invading (gasp) my schooling schedule with my girls. This always turns up my anxiety because honestly, there are ONLY so many hours in the day. This momma is jam-packed. When I stopped to think of our family values of what really mattered most in that moment, I was able to let go of my beloved routine and recall, “We value relationships over routine.” I could breathe, enjoy this beautiful human being and then get back to school.
I’m thankful for my dear friend that recommended this book to me. I dare say her wisdom, beautiful insight and fantastic book recommendation has changed the trajectory of my life. I have grown from the woman with the “funny” catch phrase “I’m over booked and understaffed” to becoming a successful CEO of my home. A woman who feels empowered and thankful for her schedule. Who would have thought…
