In my last post on the first part of survey analysis, I had requested you to try 3 things.
Examine how you spend your time across the day
Create time for yourself by asking people to help and
Carving out atleast an hour for yourself this week.
How did it go ? A rocky start ? Or, you were able to taste the sweet feeling of having 1 hour to yourself ? I am waiting to hear from you..
Moving on with more analysis from the survey, some 84% are convinced they are what is most important for them or their family. Very good. This data by itself is very convincing.
However, this needs to be seen along with qualitative remarks by the respondents to the following 2 questions. "I would consider these as the top 3 things that are part of my daily routine" and "My goals/aspirations are".
Most people wrote a) Cooking and b)Cleaning/house maintenance as part of the top 3 things. This was followed by the 3rd item - Giving time to family.
Nothing wrong with that! Somehow this makes me feel we are barely in survival mode - these things cannot be avoided, they need to be done and we have to do it. If you are wondering why I say that, for a moment imagine the response to this question by the rest of the people in your house. Would it be the same ? Even if you set aside their time for work, would the rest of their time go towards cooking, house maintenance and giving time to family ? Of course, these things need to be done - but is there lot of things falling on us by default ? Others may be assuming we have to do or worse still, we assume we have to do.
I would say it is time we started thinking about these things. If we are aware of these, then there are possibilities. Possibilities of raising questions, looking at solutions as a team, in this case, the family.
For this thinking process to flourish, the other question of goals/aspirations needs attention.
Most of the respondents used quite abstract terms. Wanting to be happy, get fulfilment, satisfaction etc. There were a few who said they need to figure this out! Yes, we could get into a discussion of life's goal and aspirations at a philosophical level. But at a more day to day level, it is important for us to identify something concrete that we are passionate about.
Yes, outside of our roles in the work context or as a mother/wife etc. If you wonder why, we can get into a discussion on the benefits. But whether the benefits are a handful or a hundred, the fact is that there are only benefits. No cons from having one's own passion! Especially in this age where we have lots of opportunities, it is feasible for us to have our own passion without compromising on our roles. In the process we may rewrite some of the rules around our roles and I tell you, our children are only going to benefit from that..
So, what could be your passion ? You may know it already, then it is much more easier to figure out how to start.
If you do not, then a good place to start is to give yourself a fixed time, say 3 months, to identify it. Things that you once did and no longer do, things that you always wanted to learn - these are potential starting points.
Believe me, we have a lot of potential, it is up to us to get up a seize opportunities..