I’ve had a chance over the past few weeks to talk to many people about their plans for 2020. In most cases, people are feeling overwhelmed in a chaotic world. They are having a hard time grasping meaning with so much going on around them.
Do you feel this way? I know I do sometimes.
One of my friends has wanted to start a business his entire life. Let’s call him Bob (not his real name). He’s been talking about a particular business idea for over 20 years. Every time Bob brings it up, I tell him he should do it. Every time Bob responds that he can’t. The kids this. Or the family that. Or the bills this. Or his current job that.
Listening to Bob talk is an experiment in itself. Here is Bob in a nutshell.
– He’s always busy (and will tell you so).
– He doesn’t know how he can get everything done in the allotted time.
– He feels he “has” to do things that he doesn’t want to do.
– He makes excuses.
It’s difficult for me to watch. Bob has so much talent. I want to take him and fix him. I’ve tried to say things here or there, but he doesn’t take advice well. But simply put, all of Bob’s issues are self-inflicted.
If Bob would be open to it, this would be my plan.
Take a Week and Track Your Time
Bob complains that he’s always busy. I know for sure that this is his mindset and he’s really not that busy
To fix this, I would track what he does for a full week, 24 hours a day.
How much does Bob sleep? How much time does Bob spend on email? How much television does Bob watch? How much time does Bob spend scrolling through social media?
Without even trying I could find Bob an extra four to six hours a day in time (just by removing the TV and social media scrolling).
BTW, there are a ton of apps that can help you track your time. Check some out here.
Analyze and Choose
Like Bob, so many people I know feel they “have to” do certain things. This is usually not true. We either make the choice consciously or make the choice by just letting it happen.
Once the list is complete, we need to create what an average day looks like. It might be easier for you to just look at a work day and leave the weekends alone.
It might look like this:
– Sleep: 7 hours
– Getting ready for work: 1 hour
– Commuting to and from work: 1 hour
– Work: 7 hours
– Breaks and lunch at work: 2 hours
– Time on phone/social media/email: 3 hours
– Making/having dinner: 1.5 hours
– Watching Netflix or TV: 3 hours
You get the point.
Now rate each one with a) Must do, b) Probably must do, or c) Don’t need.
In the above example, I can identify six hours right away that Bob doesn’t need.
Those six hours per day, five days a week add up to over 1,500 hours in a year. You can accomplish a lot with that kind of time. This could be the time Bob needs to start his business. Or maybe he can work to have a better relationship with his wife and kids.
The point is, Bob has the power to change his life. He just doesn’t realize it.
Want to be better in 2020? Take back your life by choosing instead of defaulting.
The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.