What about these precious 22 minutes?

Since the new year I have been experimenting with 22 minutes.

Poet Mary Oliver famously posed the question ‘tell me, what am I to do with my one wild precious life?’.

Who knows. It may just start with good goal setting and a focused time slot.

So now I set the timer and do what I need to do.  22 minutes dedicated attention for my writing, Spanish grammar, the earthconverse anthology, stretching etc. These sets of 22 minutes are becoming a conscious practice, providing a way to tone up my discipline muscles as well as giving me momentum on some projects I want to manifest and healthy habits I wish to cultivate.

Goal setting rigour

Effective goal setting, I have learnt from sportspeople and sport psychologists, involves being more rigorous, clear and expansive in how we set our goals. To make sure we include higher meaning and motivation (why), measurable-I-know-when-I-will-get-there targets (what) and controllable moments of small processes, behaviours and actions (how). By doing this we engage ‘heart, head and feet’.

So my 22 minutes daily commitment, gives me a window, a frame, a focus.  Small enough that I can do it. Substantial enough I can feel the stretch.  Soft enough that if I don’t do it, I just reset and start again.  And smart enough..specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely.  Definitely timely.

Why 22?

Love the number!  Choose yours.

And when telling my friend Lorraine about my resolution, she told me about 22 minutes, a Canadian satire comedy television series.  With the “22 Minutes” referring to a typical half-hour television program in Canada and the U.S. being 22 minutes long with 8 minutes of commercials.

For a taster, she sent this brilliant excerpt from the series…on Angry Yoga!.

Whether you want to do angry yoga or anything that is important to you, may you enjoy those precious minutes and live the life you choose.