“I don’t have time to do that.”
”I really want to do that, but I just don't have time.”
Time is the biggest excuse that I hear when working with potential entrepreneurs, hobbyists, and business owners. I’ve lived my entire life by the mantra that HARD WORK equals EVERYTHING you’d ever want. But I had a rude awakening in college when I realized that my motto for life wasn’t true. In fact, the older you get the less that seems to be. I know plenty of people who have worked countless hours and haven’t been able to brush their fingertips on that ultimate dream or goal.
The subsequent season that I entered after this realization was rough and tough on my emotional psyche. What was the point of trying when it wouldn’t even matter in the end?
That was where I was wrong. I now live a re-worked and re-written version of that motto: Work hard and even if you don’t achieve that goal, something even better will come along.
It was only when I opened my eyes to that moment that I realized that I needed to do MORE. But I didn’t have the TIME. So I created time, just like I did when hard work was my everything. By getting up just 30 minutes earlier than normal, I could get in that workout that I wanted. By going to bed just 20 minutes later, I was able to do the prayer journal that my soul so greatly needed to stay optimistic, positive, and strong in my faith.
Creating time has also been a way that i have relieved anxiety and stress in my life. I spend Sundays with friends and family - unplugged. In the past, that would have left me stressed, working until the wee hours of Monday morning, and exhausted for the work week. Now I get up early, roughly 4:30 am early, and, in that moment, I prove that the “early bird gets the worm!”
I will have all my reports done, breakfast eaten, a light exercise taken, water drank, and my weekly goals and subsequent action plans from my efficiency calendar all mapped out. Anxiety is gone!
What would you do with an extra FIVE hours a week? That’s right! With 30 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening, you’ll gain almost FIVE extra hours a week! That is more than enough time to meal prep work out, update reports and more!
Think smarter, not harder!