In today's world we are constrained by time on so many levels. How we use, misuse it, waste it, invest it and yes spend it.
Time....not money seems to makes the world go round.
Now....I want to go back in time just a bit.
I grew up in a really bad neighborhood. Often I would carry a stick or a knife to go to the store. I was jumped twice as a kid and I promise you that although my mother's prevailing statement was to pick up a stick or a pole to fight back, there was never one around when it came down to getting a face massage by some kids fist.
It wasn't easy.
I didn't like to fight. As a matter of fact, I hated it. I did whatever I could to avoid it. Despite it all, violence always came to find me. Whether it is 1 person or in some cases like mine....12.
I did however like to watch fighting. Not real fights, but the theatrical type. The kind that happens on action cartoons or movies.
Like most kids during the 70's (yes, I am super dating myself)I really loved martial arts. Every Saturday you would find me glued to the television, bowl of cereal in hand and my face mesmerized by the sounds and the movements of both heroes and villains alike as I watched Kung Fu Theater.
I didn't actually know any martial arts, but, at least at a high level, I wanted to know it.
My mother knew a 5th degree black belt. He was willing to teach me.....for free. That would have fed my love of the art and given me the confidence to face some of the trials that often befall a young kid in the ghetto.
The only thing I had to do was to get up on early on Saturday morning, go over to his house and learn.
That's it.
Did I forget to mention that I was somewhat lazy as a kid?
Getting up and out of the house at 6am on a Saturday morning would mean I would miss not only Kung Fu theater, but my cartoons as well.
I didn't want to do it. So I didn't.
This is where it all ties in so stay with me.
I refused to take the time to invest in my own future for my own benefit. I didn't take the time to improve my situation.
Now...here is the thing. I was a kid. I didn't know any better. (Side bar....I eventually took martial arts in abundance.) A lack of proper guidance and maturity will do that, but I had an excuse.
It was still an excuse.
Many of us have a pocket full of excuses. The type that we conveniently pull out when we won't take accountability for the things we do....or do not do.
We take the time to make the excuses, but we do not take the time to take advantage of opportunity that is lying at our feet.
Can I clear that up for you? We are NOT taking the time to invest in our own success because we are so busy making excuses.
You want to work out, but you have to go to work? Get up earlier.
You can't get up earlier because you won't be able to have enough rest. Got to sleep earlier.
You can't go to sleep earlier because you have so much to do.
See where I am going with this? We are finding an excuse to NOT do something that benefits us. We are finding reasons NOT to make time.
WE are getting in the way of the best version of our lives by simply being too creative with the "Why" we can't, versus the "How" we can.
The most precious commodity we will ever possess is not money, not love, not family...
It's time. Without time how can you appreciate any of the former?
It is the one thing you will never get back, especially if you waste it.
And yet we find more ways to do exactly that, never realizing that in our hands lies the power to accomplish our dreams if would only...make...take..the time.
To desire success without making a way to achieve it is an exercise in defeat.
But what if I told you that it doesn't have to be that way?
What if I told you there was a way to ensure your dreams would one day come true (let's be reasonable here okay? I used to want to be a squirrel as a kid, that ain't never gonna happen) and all it took was for you to do something as simple as make a plan?
Set a goal?
Create a timeline?
And follow....through?
What if I told you, that all you had to do to one day have success, in your relationship with self, your relationship with others was to take time and make time to invest in the one person responsible for getting to the top of that mountain, crossing that finish line.
That's you. The person who stares back at you in the mirror everyday.
What are you waiting for? Do you need a sign? Here it is. Do you need a signal? Here it is.
Do you need to know what to do? I am telling you. Take advantage of now. This is all that you have. Not tomorrow, not the next day. Today. Right in this moment make the commitment and take the time to dedicate your energy to doing what you need to do to bring success, joy and fulfillment into your life.
Then follow through.
Procrastination and excuses will only bring you self made pain and frustration.
Again, that mirror will show you who is responsible.
But we need never look at ourselves with blame if we do the best we can as soon as we can without making an excuse as to why it didn't work out.
Oh to be sure there are reasons at times for why things don't work out, but I am not talking about a reasons. There is a difference I promise you. I can also promise that you already know this.
Deep in your soul, you know when you aren't living as the best you. You know when you are failing yourself. You know when you are making excuses instead of making time.
You know.
So stop. Please. And then....start....
Please.
Start to find ways to tap into the potential that was yours in the first place.
It's make or break time my friends.
Use it or Lose it. Invest it or Waste it. Spend it...or Save it.
Speaker...Coach
Comments