Book Review of “Take Time For Your Life Book Report” by Cheryl Richardson
September 30th, 2011 by Diane Conklin under Diane's Book Reviews. No Comments.
I’m sure my friend and business associate was trying to tell me something when she recommended Cheryl Richardson’s book “Take Time For Your Life: A 7-Step Program for Creating the Life You Want” to me.
Like a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners, I have a tendency to put work in front of almost everything else in my life. Have to get this done for this client, have to get this marketing program out, have to finish the copy for that, have to complete the last little piece of this direct mail campaign, and the list goes on and on.
I am better about taking time off and not working until all hours of the night (although it is going on 2:00am as I write this, but that’s only because I had a little trouble falling asleep tonight so I thought I’d take a few minutes to do this one little thing) now than I used to be and I still have some lessons to learn and am working on getting even better.
Cheryl Richardson has a term she calls extreme self-care and that’s really what the whole book is about. Her emphasis is in putting yourself first. She even says that we all have an inner voice that, when we listen to it, will guide us to make decisions that are always in our best interest. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Being in touch with your feelings and how your body feels will tell you a lot about whether or not you are taking care of yourself or not. If you feel tired and run down, do you take a morning or afternoon off to get some extra rest, to go for a run, or to get a massage? Or, do you just keep pushing yourself to do more and more and more because you feel the pressure (usually put there by ourselves and nobody else) to finish or get one more thing done?
Another thing that really rang true for me in this book was the statement Cheryl Richardson makes that your life is not your work. And that when you put yourself at the top of your to do list and practice taking care of yourself that’s when you build a strong foundation for a high quality life…then and only then.
When I was younger and first getting started I remember a good friend telling me “Diane, most people work to live, you live to work,” and reading this quote reminded me of her saying that to me some 20 plus years ago.
It’s really true though, especially for those of us who own our own businesses, and probably more so for women just because we tend to be the caregivers in most situations (there are of course exceptions to that). It’s even more important that we put ourselves at the top of the list instead of always putting others ahead of us because others depend on us and if we aren’t at our best then we can’t give our best to our loved ones, our friends, our clients, or ourselves.
Remember, you, and only you, determine what gets your time and attention – and you’re well worth the time and attention. Give it to yourself and watch how much things change – check out how different you feel, how much happier you are, how you no longer have that 3:00pm sleepy or sluggish feeling, and watch your relationships and your income grow too!
If this seems like a big challenge for you then start by taking one afternoon each week to go to lunch or have a massage or spend just one hour doing something you truly enjoy where you can disconnect and try that for 30 days, then as you find that works and you actually are more productive, grow your time from there.
Everyone works differently, and one of the things that’s great about owning your own business and being an entrepreneur is you get to set your own work hours, but I highly recommend you take at least one day off every week to relax and disconnect – to take care of yourself…but don’t let that be the only day you put yourself first and practice extreme self-care.
Good luck!
If you wish to purchase this book click here: Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach’s 7-Step Program for Creating the Life You Want
