E144 Focus on Facets - Intellectual Wellness
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 144
Date: October 29, 2024
Participants: Sheila Webster, John Webster and Cameron Earnshaw
Guest: Al Tordjman and Cheryl Rickers
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: Cheryl and Sheila have conversations flowing from segments in our August episodes.
[0:14:56] Focus on Facets: John introduces the category of Intellectual Wellness during our 8-week Focus on Facets program.
[0:18:47] Expanding Minds Interview: [Intellectual Wellness] Al Tordjman discusses Steven Covey’s approach to time management. Think about combinations of activities and where they intersect on important, not important, urgent and not urgent. How much time do we spend in the day on ones that are not important and not urgent? Do we get tricked into believing that the mere fact something is urgent makes it seem important? In Al’s experience, he benefits a lot by making time to deal with important but not urgent matters: things like preparation and planning, setting priorities, relationship building, true recreation. This is where you would do the work John talks about: (1) Identifying areas of wellness that are important to you; (2) identifying activities that foster these areas and making a plan to perform them; and (3) doing a wellness check-in from time to time.
[36:44] Running Popup They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What about our own age? Do we feel younger is we see ourselves as younger? It feels that way to John when he’s listening to alternative music, or walking wo work wearing his backpack.
[0:38:56] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron is staying ahead of the season. The view outside says it’s fall, with leave changing colour. It this the time to be practicing holiday music?
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Al – Let’s look at things that are not important, but still urgent. You need to deal with them, but if you can delegate those things that would be the best approach, because you realize they’re not truly important.
John – Urgent can feel important. The mere fact that something is urgent sometimes makes me think it’s important. I don’t take that minute to sit back and ask, “Is this important?”
Al – That’s the part of reflecting you need to do on that. You think, this appears to be an urgent situation. How truly important is this in relation to everything else I need to do with my time? You might discover this really isn’t all that important. I only need to spend say 20 minutes on this.
Al – How much time do you spend watching TV. We all love our favourite shows, but if you’re spending four hours a day doing that, is that the quadrant you want to be in for four hours a day (unimportant and not urgent).
Al – I consider the important but not urgent quadrant the one that can be life changing for people. We’re looking at activities that take some time to develop. It takes some level of planning, such as relationship building, finding new opportunities in life and personal growth.
John – There’s nothing wrong with doing unimportant and unurgent things for a time during the day, but find the time to do these important things that are not urgent that can set you up for a better frame of mind, for success at other times.
Al – Take that a step further. Instead of finding the time. When you start to think of your entire day and where you fall in the various quadrants, think of it as I can manipulate how much time I spend in a particular quadrant, particularly if it’s not important and yet appears to be urgent. Start to devote some of that time to the important and not urgent quadrant of doing some planning that’s really going to change my life.
Al – I’m really trying to gravitate to the important and not urgent quadrant. The other ones are a little bit clearer to see. It’s this one (important and not urgent) that takes time to build and is less likely that you’re going to think it’s worth spending time in, when in fact it’s probably the most important quadrant.
Guest Information: Al Tordjman is John and Sheila’s brother-in-law.
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley