Manage time: the great excuse
Managing time is a fundamental ability today. Often it is talked about as if we had no power over our time. We are very good at building the alibis that lift us from taking our responsibilities.
"I don't have time" is probably the most common excuse. When we should be doing that annoying thing at work. When we should be tidying up the garage at home. When we should be working out and just don't feel like it... In coaching, it's a phrase I often hear from my clients when they don't complete what they set out to do.
Manage time: a question of priority
We all have 24 hours a day, and the amount of time we have is the same for everyone. What makes the difference is how we manage priorities. That is, what we decide to give importance to. The President of the United States has 24 hours a day, as does the shop assistant at the corner store, just as you and I have 24 hours a day.
Dean Karnazes is a renowned world-class ultramarathoner. Before becoming one of the world's most influential people, he had a very normal life like many of us: a job in an office and a family with two children. From the moment he decided to dedicate himself to ultrarunning, he started waking up at 4 a.m. to run a training marathon. That evening, after putting the kids to bed, he put on a headlamp and ran another marathon.
“A crazy person!” you're probably thinking, and maybe you're right. In any case, it's a real-life example that helps us understand how a person with a full-time job and a family can find the time to exercise to improve their quality of life and build resilience.
What are your priorities?
Likewise, we can all decide what's truly important to us and truly commit to realizing our life plan. Ultimately, one of the goals of coaching is precisely this: to decide and follow through on decisions.
We all have the same amount of time available; what matters is what we decide to do with it, which aspects of our lives we prioritize. Decide what's important to you and forget about "I don't have time"—that's just an excuse.
