“If only I had more hours in a day.”
“If only there were an extra day in the week.”
“If only I wasn’t so slow.”
For years I told myself things like this. I imagine you might have too.
Yes, they are just words, short simple sentences, but watch out if they become your mantra. I’ve found that believing these phrases or variations of them can become very disheartening, very quickly. Phrases like these can make you feel frustrated, unproductive and overwhelmed and, at the same time, they can distract you from focusing on things you can have beneficial influence over.
Constantly mourning the time you don’t have or the lack of speed with which you work can blind you to the freedom you have to act and make progress within the 24 hours each day affords you. These concepts of always lacking the time you need or being fast enough to live your life as fully as you want, can quickly evolve into excuses for not attempting to live the life you want to enjoy, which can, in turn, make you angry, afraid, and even apathetic.
So what can you do when you find yourself ruminating about these ideas? Here are a few thoughts:
1 – Recognize that this way of thinking is a treadmill of distraction and frustration.
2 – Consider making a choice to start the process of changing your relationship with time from one of lack to one of gratitude.
3- If you choose to explore this new path, you can reinforce this choice by telling yourself something that counteracts your default statements of not having enough or being enough. For example you could practice telling yourself, “I’m so thankful for the time I do have today. I’m going to relish this opportunity to do what I can, and through my efforts to move forward.”
Yes, at some point, hopefully in the extremely far distant future, the sands in both your hourglass and mine will run out. Fortunately before then, there’s so much both you and I CAN DO to live the lives we most want to live.
Sometimes living can feel like such a solo, lonely sport, but we truly are all in this challenging and wonderful life together.
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JASON FREEMAN is a Professional Speaker and the proud owner of a Speech Impediment. He is also the author of “Awkwardly Awesome: Embracing My Imperfect Best” and a Perseverance Coach.
He excites and encourages his audience to break through the barriers of their own limitations using a method he created, called “Doing your Imperfect Best ™”.
His Imperfect TEDx Talk can be viewed here.
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