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A long time ago, before I was able to really get it and was clueless about the meaning of life, a mentor of mine said:

“Taylor…we all get the same amount of time!”

No matter how simple and profound this statement is, at the time, his words didn’t sink in.

But as the years went by, I’d hear those words a few more times. Returning like a refrain, I’d slowly appreciate this song.

See, there’s a thing with people who live their dreams, people who lead extraordinary lives. These folks have mastered the simple truth about time–that we all get the same amount of time.

…And they know something else too…

That it’s what you do with your time that gets you different results from everyone else.

That how you spend your time determines your future.

Now if you’re like me, that probably sounds elementary. But on some level it’s hard to disagree, right?

It’s time to get this out in the open… People who live a richer, more fulfilling life in every sense of the word, realize it’s not about needing more time. Let’s face it… We all have all the time we’re ever going to get. So the secret is in how you use that time, how you leverage time.

When someone has an issue with time, often we’ll talk about their relationship with time.

Not surprisingly, they’ll tell me they don’t have enough time to do this that or the other. I mean really, ask a random person at the grocery store… it’s rare to find anyone who has time to do anything. Or is it?

They like money, but they don’t have time to get organized to make more money.

They say they wish they were in better shape, but they don’t have time to eat healthier or to take better care of themselves physically or emotionally.

They dream of better relationships, but they don’t have time to create strong, long-lasting bonds.

They describe in detail what they hate about their current job, but they don’t have time to think of a more rewarding line of work or to design a career they can be passionate about.

Sometimes we talk about how things take effort. But mostly it’s about how things take time.

In a way, it’s funny. Because if you ask them to journal how they spend their time, they make some amazing discoveries.

When someone first told me about journaling, I couldn’t help but think of a large, worn-in, leather-bound journal. Like an artist’s sketchbook or something. But the fact is you can journal on a small pad you keep in your back pocket or purse, on your computer, iphone, or whatever way makes you most comfortable. And when you make it a habit to keep a journal of how you spend your time, you too will see patterns in what you do with your time–those precious hours, days, months and years of your life.

And so when on the one hand they say “I’m so busy… I don’t have time…” and then on the other hand they see right there in black and white what it is they’re actually busy doing, it’s quite eye-opening, and at times down-right shocking.

For example, just imagine their surprise when they realize how many hours they spend watching television…

A.C. Nielsen Co. reported the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (in reality, the TV is on more than that, an average of 6 hours, 47 minutes each day)

Why not try some simple math…

4 hours a day is 28 hours a week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year. 60 days of nonstop TV a year.

In a 65-year life, someone watching this much TV will have spent 9 years glued to the tube–more time today considering people are living longer. Tell me if that’s not alarming. Maybe it’s a wake up call.

Now, depending on what kind of television they watch, there may be some educational value to it. You know …if they’re watching things like the History Channel or the Discovery Channel.

And that’s just picking a classic example, people watching television hours and hours a day, wasting their gifts and lives in front of the television.

Listen, I used to be busy too. In fact, I still am quite often. At times you might have even seen me wearing “busyness” (is that a word?) almost as if it were a badge of honor.

Yes, I used to enjoy being busy.  The busier I was, the better I felt.

But that was a superficial feeling of fulfillment.

At a much deeper level, truth be told, I was far from satisfied with the things that were keeping me busy.

So there I was “busy”…

You know, there’s a thing about being busy…

When you are busy, you can get nowhere real fast.

Busy, busy, busy, at work. Or busy, busy, busy at home with the kids. Busy, maybe feeling like you’re a hamster on the hamster wheel. Busy getting tired, burning out.

Busy like our dogs running around in circles, chasing their tails.

That’s when along the road, another mentor taught this dog a new trick… Anyway, let me stay focused here…

What do you say let’s do a quickie quiz?

I’m giving away a prize, naturally.

And to make it relevant to the subject at hand, how about access to my Personal Renaissance group coaching and mentoring program to the first right answer?

Sound good?

Okay. Here’s the quiz:

You know people have goals. Spoken personal goals, the ones they’ll openly and easily share. And unspoken ones-goals maybe they would rather keep to themselves or don’t typically realize they have.

You probably even know a person or two who’s told you they have this or that goal. And yet in the same breath they also will painfully share that they don’t have time to work toward their goal because of how busy they are doing one thing or another.

You also know we all get the same amount of time. So if you take 2 random people who both have a goal of losing the same amount of weight and one of them gets to the gym 3 times a week and the other doesn’t, it isn’t because the first has more time.

So here’s the Big Question for today’s quiz:

What is it that makes someone who has a goal, clear or hazy, spoken or unspoken, as it may be, engage in logic-defying acts, squandering precious time when instead they could be taking action in support of their goals?

Why the self sabotage?

What is at the root of our self defeating behaviors?

Is it procrastination, fear …or something deeper?

What’s the key intrinsic reason why we do what we do instead of what we know we should do in support of our goals?

Toss your hat into the ring.

Well?

There IS a single answer.

Do you know what it is?

Be the first to nail it in the comments section, and you win entry into my coaching program, “Personal Renaissance.”

Okay… go.

Answer (and winner announced) Wednesday afternoon.

Good luck.

Ciao!

Taylor