The Time of Your Life

So I'm just over a week into my twice-yearly detox - no meat, alcohol, dairy, sugar, caffeine and the like, plus a good dose of cardio. It tends to go on for anywhere between 10 days to 3 weeks, depending on my mood (though is likely to be closer to the latter this time around). Even though it can get a tad frustrating at times, I've done it so many times now, and my diet has ultimately moved on such a long way from my chocolate-bar-for-dessert lifestyle, that it's less of a challenge nowadays.

I try to add something new each time I do it - one detox I went to a Buddhist meditation session, another occasion I tried out colonic irrigation - simply to make it feel less like more of the same. This time around I've taken on a more holistic approach, trying to spring clean a number of areas of my life and get a bit more focus. I've detoxed the use Facebook, for example - the home of many a wasted hour. I've set myself the task to be in contact with at least two people I haven't been in touch with for over 6 months - one down, at least one to go so far. I've challenged myself to get my financial house in order by reviewing and redefining my financial plan. I've targeted finding something in my life to declutter and something to 'add value' every few days. I've challenged myself to choose a charity and decide on how to contribute. More daily meditation, implement time management areas, reconnect with family members, review my life areas, and so on it goes. Oh, and one aim was to write at least three blog pieces over three weeks - so two down one to go...

I may well have overstretched myself in terms of the list but that was part of the idea - to have some worthwhile areas to shoot for, to show some discipline and integrity and to make sure I'm on a path to address them. It's about looking at and focusing on what's important in life. The application isn't perfect but the intent is there. Time, like food, can be full of junk if you don't take a little bit of care.

Priorities

The great thing about this detox (or if you prefer, declutter) period is that it allows me to be less distracted by the slings and arrows of mindless TV living. Instead I get a chance to fall upon thoughts and ideas that I had previously looked at. I can be a bit of a hoarder - I blame my mother for that - and I'm a big fan of collecting newspaper and magazine cuttings. After sifting through a handful of articles warning of pending doom and gloom in the UK and US property markets (dated 2005, I'll have you know) I came across a piece talking about the search for balance in life. The article touched on a few well-oiled themes: inner peace, focus, values and so on. But what grabbed me was the part questioning how many of us truly know what our priorites, values and motivations are. We think we know, but how many of us have ever tried to articulate them? The piece then asks us to try and list them. Are these your real priorities, motivations etc or are they what you think they should be?


The killer test for priorities is for you to look at your chequebook or bank statement and your calendar or diary. Do these reflect what you have listed as your priorities? Our real priorities should ultimately show up in how we spend our time and our money. I suppose it's kind of obvious but I've never really thought in such straight-forward terms. If you want your priorities to be different to how they show up then there's a bit of an imbalance in the way you are living. It's quite easy to excuse away a lot with "I can't". Which is fine. Or "I would but...". It's your choice. But if you have five minutes to spare (and we all have five minutes to spare), it could be an interesting experiment. Give it a whirl. You might surprise yourself.

Detox time

For the last four years or so I've undertaken a detox every six months. It's a way of righting some wrongs in my opinion. The term itself, "detox", comes in all shapes and sizes and guises. My one (or strictly speaking, one based on a Tony Robbins plan) removes from your diet meat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, certain fats and artificial sugars; avoids combining proteins with carbohydrates; and ensures that a large percentage of each meal is 'water-based foods' (i.e. fruit or veg). On top of this, you've got to drink lots of water and do at least 15 minutes cardio six times over a ten-day period.


There must be thousands of detox plans out there, each one of them trying to add some value to you and trying to remove something less pleasant from you. For me, this one was the first I fell upon and has stuck ever since. It feels reasonably natural, where you eat actual food and remove some of life's stimulants and processed foods. Regardless of whichever approach you take, for me the detox period ultimately forces me to be a bit more conscious of what you're consuming - in simple terms, that's food and drink but for me it's more than that. I've tried to extend the principles of the detox period to focus more on my inner workings rather than just diet. It's a time when I seek to be a bit more aware of what I'm doing with myself, rather than the 24-7 autopilot that we're all very prone to. So this time round it's more meditation, less Facebook; more speaking to a financial adviser, less throwing money down the proverbial manhole; more writing, less TV for TV's sake; more spring cleaning, less dead New Year's resolutions; more quality time, less time flying right before my eyes. It's not a magic bullet to cure all ills or a way of putting me on the path to some golden pot. But it does help refocus me towards some of the more important things in life, while pushing me towards a few better habits. So hopefully my world over the next couple of weeks can inspire my writing as well.