I Don't Have Time

"I don't have time." I am sick of this excuse. I am tired of hearing it and I am tired of uttering it. "I don't have time" has become a fall-back excuse to cover for not doing something you should do or something you want to do. We act as if our days are filled with millions of things we have to do and we just can't seem to fit in the others. Can we all agree right now to stop using "I don't have time" as an excuse?

The real excuse is we don't make the time to do whatever it is we should do. If we truly want to do something-exercise, write, learn a new language or skill, read more, cook more-we have to make the time to do it. We have to give up watching so much television. We have to get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later. We have to spend our lunch break doing it. We can make the time, if we really want to. When you say you don't have the time, what you really mean is watching TV or sleeping or anything else is more important than what you supposedly want to do.

Stop. Quit making excuses. If you want to write, then make time to write. If you want to learn Spanish, then make time to learn Spanish. If you want to stop eating out all the time and instead want to cook more, then make time to cook. If you want to exercise, then make time to exercise. Very, very few of us are so busy every second of every day that we can't set aside thirty minutes to an hour to do the things we claim we want to do.

Is it going to be easy? No, but very few things worth doing are easy. I don't always want to work out, but I make the time each day to do some sort of exercise, even if it is just walking between buildings at work when I could drive. I don't always feel like writing a blog post, but I set time aside to make sure I sit down in front of the computer and produce something. After a long day at work, I don't always feel like making something healthy for dinner. Sometimes I don't, but many times I will force myself to just start cooking.

Starting is the key. If you start doing something, you are more likely to keep doing it than you were if you didn't start. Try it this week. If you want to exercise, then do it while you are watching TV. If you want to cook more, then find some recipes, go to the store for ingredients and plan to cook when you get home. Then, when you get home, start cooking. If you want to write more, then make time each day to sit down and write. To do the things you say you want to do, you have to take control of your schedule and make sure you have time set aside to do them. Sometimes you will have to give up something to accomplish what you want to do. You just have to decide what you want more...an hour of sleep or an hour of writing. Sitting in front of the TV or exercise. Eating unhealthy fast food or a nice, healthy, home-cooked meal.

The good things in life take work and a little bit of sacrifice. Next week, are you going to remember what happened on that mindless TV show or are you going to remember that amazing meal you cooked? Which matters more to you? Do you want to do what you say you want to do or do you want to remain stagnant, doing what you have always done? Either you want to make the time or you don't. Just stop saying you don't have time because we all know you're full of shit. Figure out how to find the time or stop saying you want to do something. If you really want to do it, you'll find the time.

What's Really Stopping You?

If you could spend the rest of your life doing anything, what would it be? For most people, this can be a very difficult question because it opens up a new realm of possibility, if they think about it honestly. Another way to ask the same question, when you daydream, where to you see yourself going and what do you see yourself doing?

What's stopping you? Is it money? Your family? Don't know where to start? Think it is impossible? Afraid to lose family and friends over a "crazy" idea? Worried about what happens if it doesn't work out? Think doing these things are for younger people or older people or single people or couples without kids or people who don't own a house or any other type of person who isn't you? Have too many responsibilities?

Well, I am going to call bullshit on all of the above and any other excuse you can come up with. There are only two things stopping you from doing what you want: fear and laziness. We are really good at self-sabotage. For many of us, we would quit our job and do something we love once we have enough money saved up, but we don't focus on saving. We think we need more experience or a degree to do what we want, but we don't try to find experience or sign up for classes. We don't know where to start, but we don't do any research to figure it out. We convince ourselves our dreams are impossible because we are too scared to actually chase them. What if we fail? What if things go wrong?

What if they don't? As I get older, I am starting to realize I would much rather chase my dreams and not quite reach them than think they are impossible and not do anything. I have used all of the excuses in paragraph two and while they may make "logical" sense in my head, they are really bullshit. Chasing your dreams and plotting your own course is odd and a little too rare. People might think you are crazy and they might worry a lot about you. And? Do you really want to live your life in such a way that no one ever worries about you?

These excuses work for the little dreams, too. Things you say you want to do and still haven't. Do you want to travel the world? Eliminate the bullshit excuses and what's really stopping you? Do you want to write a novel? Eliminate the bullshit excuses and what's really stopping you? Do you want to move to another state or another country? Eliminate the bullshit excuses and what's really stopping you? Do you want to run a marathon, climb a mountain, hike the Appalachian Trail, bike across America, learn to surf, sail around the world, skydive, start a band or any other "crazy" idea? Eliminate the bullshit excuses and what's really stopping you?

I honestly believe we can do anything we want to do. We have to eliminate the bullshit excuses, stop allowing fear to run our life, stop being so damn lazy and figure out where to start. There are people out there who live their life by their own rules and I am sure they would be more than happy to help out. I wish I could say I am living a life like this, but I am on this journey with you. We're not getting any younger. I say we start calling each other on the bullshit excuses and start living the life we really want to live.

Choice

We spend each day constantly making choices. What way should I go to work? What should I bring for lunch? Should I have a coffee this morning? What should I wear? How should I handle this situation? Should I write a blog post this morning? These types of questions continue throughout the day and we are so used to it, often we won't hear the question or know we are making a choice. It has become automatic.

These simple choices are easy (usually) but when it comes to choices about how we live our life or where we want our life to go, we often fall very short and let fear or laziness stop us. We all know we should exercise more, but how many of us actually make the choice to do it? We all know we shouldn't smoke or drink as much as we do, but how many of us actually make the choice not to? We all know we need to eat a healthier diet, but how many of us actually pass on seconds or desert because of this knowledge?

We have the ability to make choices that will change our lives. Yes, we don't know what the future will bring, but we can have some control over what is happening now. We can choose to not eat something so we can get in better shape. We can choose to get up off the couch, turn off the television and go for a jog. We can choose to stop drinking or smoking or doing anything that is causing us more harm than good. Are any of these easy choices? No, not at first. But, the more you choose to do them, the easier they become. Once you start to see some results based on your choices, you will start to be more motivated to continue to make good choices.

In the same way, you can choose to live a life you want. You can choose to find happiness in your job, even if you do a lot of things you don't enjoy doing. You can choose to start looking for a new job, if you want to leave the one your are in. You can choose to learn new skills to help with this job search. You can choose to do something completely different, if you want. You can choose to start a side project or follow a dream you have always had. You can choose to take a risk. You can choose to move far away. You can choose to start a business. You can choose to go back to school. You can choose to do or try anything you want.

Every day, we are confronted with choice after choice. Many of these decisions have become second nature to us. We need to slow down and think about some of the choices we are making. Some of these choices are too important to make on autopilot. Being present in the moment and consciously making a decision may be the best choice you make today. When we consider our options, we may make a completely different decision than we would have without thinking. It's your life, shouldn't you be making the choices you really want?