The other day, I was reading an issue of “Paddling Magazine”, the premier magazine for kayaking and canoeing in the US and Canada.
The founder and publisher had written his opening letter and a few of the paragraphs caught my attention.
And it probably caught my attention because I’ve had four deeply interesting conversations about this topic with four people in the last six weeks.
It’s about this thing called TIME.
Paddling Magazine’s founder and publisher, Scott MacGregor, wrote of his shopping addiction for boats of all kinds (especially canoes) and then made quite an admission: “When I’m too busy to play outside, I buy stuff…the less amount of time I get to spend on the water, the more stuff I buy for paddling.”
This revelation made me sit back in my office chair and go, “Hmmm…”
Because the four interesting conversations I’ve had recently are with people who flat-out tell me they have more money than they know what to do with…but what they don’t have enough of is TIME.
“If money alone could solve my problem,” my newest client admitted, “I wouldn’t be talking to you. “
Scott MacGregor also points out in his article, “Dreams are not unnecessary or superfluous things. Even the possibility of dreams coming true gives us strength. It keeps alive strong desires we can’t always act upon in our busy day-to-day lives.”
His last statement is the one that I take considerable issue with.
I believe most people are walking around doing work and other things because that’s what they’ve been taught to do. Because of what society expects us to do and have and be.
Except, what about the things we WANT to do?
When, exactly, are we supposed to find the time to do those things we strongly desire to do when all the other things we’re “supposed to be doing” end up eating up all our time?
At some point, the reality of this can smack us sharply in the face. My moment came on the Grand Canyon, somewhere around day 5 or 6 when I realized I had not thought about money one single time since the trip started.
For some of my clients, their realization comes from a nagging desire that wouldn’t go away (my attorney client who really wanted to own a horse and ride regularly). For some, it’s retirement looming (and not always the traditional retirement age, but because a business might be being sold for a significant sum of money). For others, a health scare, pandemic, or death of a loved one might be the thing that wakes them up to the reality of their currently unsatisfying lifestyle. And for one of my prospective clients, he just wanted a few extra hours a day to read, but had created a culture in the business he was a partner in that he’d be available and working 8 am – 5pm. The lack of flexibility is what kept nagging him.
Whatever it is, don’t ignore your desire for something different. Those true, deeply held desires start as a whisper and end up, eventually, sounding like a roar if ignored or put off long enough.
Gentle reader, what TIME issue are having? What genuine desire are you having to change something (big or small) in your day, week, or life, but something else (stories, agreements, expectations) keeps you locked in this power struggle?
As Scott MacGregor’s article is titled, a boat is nothing without water.
And your strong desires remain unmet without ACTION.
Don’t keep putting off that which you most long to do.
Because, you know, time will eventually run out.
Try this – my Define Your Day Course.