“If I had your time…” That’s what I hear from people who don’t want to get things done.
“If I had YOUR time…” Always that dark tone, sitting halfway between dismissal and envy…as if it’s somehow my fault time’s cheated them… that I’m some space-time villain who steals their time for my own productivity.
I used to argue. “You do have my time!” Now, I shrug and say “Oh,” and continue to use my time well.
When I hear “If I had your time,” I know… “Here’s a person who will never accomplish that goal.”
To tell you the truth, I respect when you say, “I just want to watch football this season,” more than, “If I had your time…”
One’s blunt and honest–a choice–the other–a weak justification, an “I can’t!” excuse….a lie covered up in nice wrapping that crept up and took over… a total loss of control.
Time is what you do with it.
I have the same 24 hours a day as every person on earth, I neither create nor bend time.
I’m not playing a video game where I get more time for winning a level.
“Baked bread!” Bing. You earned three extra hours. “Played in the garden.” Ding! An extra hour. “Wrote.” One hour free…That’s not the way time works. Besides, in video games, everything goes faster, it never slows down. A Minecraft day is 20 minutes.
Time is nothing more than what I choose to do with it.
“Is this a good use of my time?” That’s the question I ask.
I’m a time waster by nature. If I want to be productive I must ask that question over and over again. I make lists, I schedule, I execute. I get off trak and get back on.
When I want more time, I create it by getting up early. I say no to things that don’t–or no longer–serve me. I don’t bend the space-time continuum. And I don’t feel guilty saying “no” anymore.
I keep a circle of positive people who also cherish their time. That way, when one of us is procrastinating, someone’s there to say, “Get that done!” Everyone expects everyone to get things done — to be amazing, not mediocre. No one says, “Ahhh, if I had your time.” They hustle. I’ve learned the busier the person, the more he or she accomplishes with less and less time.
The secret to time is momentum. The more I respect time, the faster life rolls and the more efficient I become.
I write. I bake a loaf of bread. I cook from scratch. I work. I grow some food. I learn new things. I use what I learn to produce. All simple things… Not worthy of “If I had your time…” All easy to organize, easier to execute with a little prior planning.
Even when I’m tired, busy, sick, or off my game, I can accomplish most things I want to do by making time my friend instead of my mortal enemy.
The rest, I stare down and say, “No, I’d rather sit and drink tea.” Honest. Truthful. No excuses.
No need to say, “If I only had more time.” Time and discipline are best friends. Until you befriend them both you cannot succeed. Success is what you make it–nothing more than taking a long journey step by step, seeing where it leads.
“If I had your time…” you say it while your bucket list passes you by and you fail to cross one big project off your list…
It’s why you will never succeed.
I’ll tell you my secret.
You do have my time.
And if you choose to use it wisely–to respect it, and cherish it–you will fly to the stars.
I guarantee.
