This one is mostly written from me to me. But I figured I'd share it here as well.
November 16, 2016 · Erik Reagan
"I want to read more often, but just haven't found the time for it yet."
"I've been meaning to knock out that home project, but just haven't found the time for it yet."
"We've talked about going on a vacation, but just haven't found the time for it yet."
Have you ever said any of these? Or something similar? Have you ever thought about something you want to do and lazily decided you would do it if you could "find the time?"
I have. I do.
But this is a type of lie we tell ourselves.
Time is easy to find. It's now. It's tomorrow. It's next week. It's easy to find time. It's not hiding from you.
What's more difficult is intentionally deciding how to spend the time.
Think about your time as a bank account. It's yours to spend. And guess what! It expires and can't be saved up. So you better spend it on stuff you actually want to spend it on. Budget your time like you budget your money. (Assuming you budget your money, that is.)
It seems many of us think about our time as something we don't have an influence on. But that's backwards. Most things that we do, we choose to do. We choose to use our time in various ways. Working. Talking. Reading. Watching. Exercising. Etc. We're choosing to spend our time on these things.
Have you ever gone even further than the "finding time" mentality? This is where you simply say you "don't have time" for something.
Another lie.
Here's a fun challenge. I wish I could remember where I heard it first. (Let me know if you've heard it too.) Try to shift the mentality of "I don't have time" into "that's not a priority for me." Let's see a few examples:
"I want to read more often, but I don't have time" becomes "I want to read more often, but it's not a priority."
How about this one:
"We've talked about going on a vacation, but it's not a priority."
Ouch. That can be painful. It definitely helps put some of these things in perspective.
So I have two challenges for you today. First, think of a few things you've found yourself saying you haven't "found time for" and decide if you should intentionally spend time on them. Second, swap out the "I don't have time" phrase for "That's not a priority" and see if you have some changes to make.
Hit me up if you have related thoughts you'd like to share. Or if this helps in some way. I'd love to hear from you.