No, You Really Don't Have Enough Time...

...to waste any that is.

Time is the great equalizer. It is the one thing in life we all truly have the same amount of each day. Until your final day.

It is what you make of it.

This is not a post about time management - although that is important.

This is a post about using your most precious resource, time, intentionally in the big picture of your life. What I want to ask is...

What are you giving it for?

None of us know when our time is up. We don't know if it will come out of the blue, totally unexpected, or if we'll get ample warning via a terrible disease or something like that.

As you know, you have a finite bank account when it comes to your time. Each day, each week, each month, each year, and even your life as a whole, is finite. You give of it each and every moment of every single day.

Again - What are you giving it for? Is your answer one you're happy to report?

At first glance, it may not seem all that important whether or not you look for a new job today when your current job is a soul-crushing waste. After all, Netflix and the couch are calling for some well-deserved chill time. Tomorrow might present a better opportunity for job-hunting.

Perhaps "important" isn't the right word. If asked, yes or no, you would probably say "yes, being happy at work is important." If I asked you if your health is important, I'd probably get a similar answer. "Of course my health is important!" You might even be confused by such a silly question. Is she baiting me?

Maybe the better description to convey my message is "time sensitive."

It may not seem incredibly time-sensitive to workout or break for a healthy lunch when you have deadlines approaching at said soul-crushing job.

The deadlines are important and your boss is expecting you to deliver. And your ego says you are an achiever, an outstanding performer of your duties. It would be inconsistent with how you see yourself to not deliver. I mean...that's crazy talk!

Stop to take care of yourself? No! You must stand and deliver at work. [badge of honor front and center]

I'll workout later. 

I'll start my job search tomorrow. 

I'll make it up to my kids some other time. 

My husband won't mind if I work late again. 

I'll think about starting my business when things calm down at work. 

I'll write my book one day.

And there went the critical moment.

Did you even notice?

Dreams can be kinda stealthy that way.

When you said "later" you just made a choice. You decided, at least for now, to say "no" to the life you really want.

I'm not judging or saying that working is bad. Not at all! We were talking about a soul-crushing job you don't like, remember? That is a waste of your energy, effort, talent and limited time here on this earth. 

Do you really want to give your precious life away for anything less than what you want?

But I need to pay the mortgage.

Of course! I'm pretty sure it's not on your vision board to be homeless.

You don't have to quit the soul-crushing job (that pays the bills) today. But if you don't want to still be there 10 years from now you then you'll want to put some boundaries in place that will allow you to work toward the life you DO want.

This holds true for any area of your life where your current experience is less than how you see it ideally. 

What does outrageous happiness look like to you?

That's the first step to getting out of this downward spiral.

Create a vision of what you DO want, not what you're willing to settle for or think is achievable. Get clear on what outrageous happiness looks like to you.

I know. I know. Not exactly earth shattering advice, right? 

Even so, I find that while people know they should do this, they either haven't done it or haven't done it in a while.

Do it already! [Please forgive my bossy tone.]

And keep in mind the vision of what you want can change! As you move throughout your journey of life, you discover sometimes that having what you thought you wanted isn't necessarily how you thought it'd be once it comes true. Then it registers that you weren't clear enough to yourself or the universe about what you wanted. So then re-state what you want to the best of your ability and current understanding.

In your mind the conversation sounds something like...Oooohhhhh. What I really meant was....[a variation of the theme or even a radical departure from what you said you wanted and got].

The important thing is to just get started.

Write out the vision of what you want, no matter how crazy or pie-in-the-sky it sounds right now. Much of what I have today and who I am started with doing this exact exercise. The more detail you include, the faster you'll get there with the fewest detours. Remember...sometimes you get what you thought you wanted but you failed to think about this or that aspect of it. So...detail, detail detail!

Please, please, pretty-please...

Stop wasting your time living a life that doesn't fill you with love, growth, gratitude, happiness, vibrancy and fulfillment.

All the things you want to get to one day...really will become impossible when your time is up. 

Don't wait.

CHOOSE what you want your life to be about.

Today is the day to #GoForIt and #Live Deliberately.