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“…hurry is a form of violence on the soul.”
This is just one of the many impactful quotes you are going to see in today’s Reader Review! This review is all about The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, and there is pure GOLD in the pages of this book.
We are still looking at this idea of living within your personal capacity this month, and after reading, highlighting, and taking SO many notes in this book, I’ve come up with 3 key questions that I want us to look at today. They all stem from some of my favorite sections of this book and quotes that should help as you consider what your personal capacity is, whether or not you’re living within it, and if you’re even filling your days with the things you most want to be doing.
Question #1: Who are you becoming? (Or if you want to look at it from the other side, who are you NOT becoming?)
This one comes from a quote in Part 2 of the book where Comer says,
“How we spend our time is how we spend our lives. It’s who we become (or don’t become).”
If you look at how and where you are spending the majority of your time, does that lead toward you becoming the person you want to be? Or does it lead in a different direction? Do you even like the direction you’re currently headed in?
If these questions or concepts are bringing up feelings that you don’t love, it might be time to consider what the alternative could look like! And actually, the first piece of this puzzle might just be stopping for a moment to consider who you DO want to become as the days, weeks, months, and years keep on going. When you look at what is filling your schedule and maxing out your capacity, I think it’s so important to see if those things are even the tasks and events that you want on there.
When I realized how much of my time was spent doing things that didn’t really amount to anything, didn’t fall within my God-given strengths, and didn’t make a difference to anyone else, I knew it was time to get intentional and start creating some boundaries around my time. Let’s make sure the things we invest our time in are the things that get us closer to becoming the future self we want to be.
Our second question comes from this quote in Part 3 of the book:
“When we get overbusy and life is hectic and people are vying for our time, the quiet place is the first thing to go rather than our first go to.”
This one hit me straight between the eyes, so here’s what I want to ask you…
Question #2: What’s the first thing you knock off of your schedule or to-do list when it gets too full? (Read that again if you need to!)
I learned a while back that yoga is one of the best activities I can do for myself. My chronic health issues and pain don’t allow me to do most exercise activities, but I still need to move and take care of myself. Even if it’s just me and a YouTube video in my living room, I always feel better when I have that time to slow down, stretch my muscles, and breathe a little slower. Then my body hurts a little less, my mind is more focused, and my emotional state isn’t quite as frazzled.
But when I have a lot of work and feel super stressed (which makes my body hurt more), what’s the first thing that gets bumped from my day to make room for more work? Naturally, I ditch the one thing that would make me feel good and that could better equip me to handle the increased workload. As one does.
Flipping this mindset is crucial if we want actual improvement, peace, and well-being to be prioritized in our lives! It doesn’t happen by accident, and I’m determined to start making those quiet places my first “go to” instead of the first thing to go. What does that look like for you?
Picture it. Name it. Make it your priority.
We started this post discussing how we spend our days, but the third question I have for you is about WHO. You might think the answer here is obvious, but humor me for a second and consider…
Question #3: Who decides what lands on your daily schedule?
Are you choosing what goes on your schedule each day? Or is something or someone else deciding it for you? In Part 3 of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, you’ll read this:
“…we achieve inner peace when our schedules are aligned with our values.”
Take a hot second to look over your schedule and to-do list for this week. Does everything on there align with your values? If it doesn’t all quite line up the way you would like, think about what you would like to be different.
Another way to consider this is through our lens of personal capacity that we keep coming back to. Does the amount of tasks, meetings, appointments, and whatever else fills your time align with your personal capacity? If you’re like most people, there’s a good chance that you feel like you’re consistently exceeding the level where you actually want to be. So what would you change? And back to our original question here – who or what is deciding how much of your time gets filled?
I used to be the worst at letting the expectations of others decide what filled my time. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, so the word “no” was like a foreign language to me. Please believe me when I tell you that letting other people and other circumstances dictate what fills your time every single day will 100% lead to resentment and burnout.
“…we achieve inner peace when our schedules are aligned with our values.”
There are 2 quotes from the Epilogue of this book that I think summarize everything perfectly, and I want to leave you with those today. Here’s the first:
“…it takes practice to live from attention and awareness… And the goal is practice, not perfection.” (Epilogue, pgs. 247-248)
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to all of this, but moving forward with intentional effort and purpose is a worthwhile practice to have.
And the final quote I have for you from the Epilogue:
“What if time itself isn’t a scarce resource to seize but a gift to receive with grateful joy?” (Epilogue, pg. 250)
I want to encourage you to sit with that last quote for a bit. It’s a beautiful question that can lead to a moment of discovery. Write it down somewhere, or even take a few minutes to journal it out.
If time itself isn’t actually a scarce resource that we’re frantically trying to hold onto or get more of… if it’s a gift, what are you doing with that gift? Are you able to receive it with grateful joy? Your answer here matters, and I hope you will take some time to consider it!
Maybe reading some of the wisdom that John Mark Comer shares in this book has made you realize it’s time to change things up in your own life… but also, that’s hard. Changing up your lifestyle to get more intentional without feeling more hurried is a tricky thing.
You probably have questions like, “What’s the next step? Where do I start? Can I even actually do this?” Finding the answers to questions like these is one of my favorite things to do with people, so my Free Coffee Chat could be your next best step. I would love to talk through the sticky parts of this with you and help you figure out what comes next.
Don’t let fear or uncertainty keep you from taking steps to eliminate hurry from your life!
