What would you do with time?
*NOTE: Apologies for the lengthy delay in between posts. Life has decided to shorten my spare time, so I’ll be working as best as I can to get regular posts to you. In the meantime, please enjoy this great guest post from Steve Olsher.*
Tens of millions of people know who the celebrity of the moment is dating. But only a fraction of that vast audience can plainly state what they want for themselves. And an even smaller number have a six-month or one-year plan for reaching their goals.
Time As Our Choice
Why is it we’re so driven to live vicariously through others? Why do some of us spend hours in the rain just to catch a glimpse of a popular actor? Why do so many of us feel more connected to a top-selling musician than to the people we see every day?
The answer to all of these questions is the same – we’re naturally attracted to those who are living their lives to the fullest, and who have connected to their true selves. It’s time to recognize that you too hold this potential. You have the power to become exactly the type of person you aspire to be.
When you squander your time pursuing activities that provide no direct benefit, you slide away from The Pinnacle (described in my book Journey to You – A Step-by-Step Guide to Reclaiming Your Life and Becoming Who You Were Born to Be). As a result, you operate from a place of discontentment, which makes you feel even more of a need to attach yourself to those you admire.
Such distractions will provide only momentary relief, though. Until you become who you were born to be, your soul will make it clear that you have yet to realize your full potential.
You can be the star. Shake off the slumber and awaken to the fact that all roads in the state of distraction lead to the slow death of not being the star.
Take Inventory Of Your Current Distractions
The average American adult watches 14 hours of television each week. Considering we sleep around eight hours a day, that means most of us spend more than 12% of our waking hours on TV.
But that’s not the end of it. We go to movies, attend sports events, listen to music, surf the Internet – for most of us, such non-work related activities add up to over 40% of our waking life!
If immersing yourself in pop culture or the arts is your way of pursuing your true self, then this might not apply to you. But otherwise, you may be frittering away too much of your precious time on being entertained by others.
An easy way to find out is to buy a small notebook and, for one week, write down how you spend the hours of each day. Specifically, write down the time that each activity begins and the time it ends, or simply mark down the number of hours and minutes you devote to each activity. At the end of the week, pull out your notebook and tally up how much time you devoted to pursuing your life’s goals and how much time you spent being distracted.
The results may shock you. The chances are you’ll find that what you’ve been thinking of as mere relaxing “downtime” is actually the dominant force in your life, devouring enormous amounts of time you can never get back.
The Two Ways To Use Your Time
Though we all like to think of ourselves as immortal, the truth is our time on Earth is finite – and precious. So it’s important to use it wisely.
I believe that there are only two ways to use your time: spend it or invest it.
Spending Your Time
Spending your time is essentially the same as spending money. You have a limited amount of money, and you spend it to fill various needs and desires. Once you use up the money, it’s no longer available for buying something else.
The same is true of your time. When you choose to devote an hour to something that doesn’t advance your life’s goals, you’ve spent that time.
It’s no longer yours to use, and there’s nothing you can do to get it back. You weighed your options as to what you could do with your time, and you chose to spend it on an activity that didn’t help you become who you want to be.
Investing Your Time
Investing money typically means putting your assets into stocks, real estate, and/or other areas that (you hope) will pay off for you in the long term.
Similarly, investing time means focusing on activities that (you hope) will reap meaningful rewards, in part as you’re doing them, but even more so down the road.
Quite simply, this is focusing your time on working to realize your hopes and dreams. Take inventory of your time and be clear on your power to invest it or spend it.
The choice is yours, and the world awaits your creations. Spend or invest, it’s your choice to make.
Steve Olsher is the co-star of the ground-breaking film, The Keeper of the Keys, founder of the Reinvention Workshop, host of Reinvention Radio, and author of USA Book News’ “Self-Help Book of The Year” Journey To You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be. To learn more, and for your FREE eBook copy of Journey To You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be, visit Journey To You.
Image courtesy of EECU
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Several months ago, I tried your suggestion of keeping track of my time for several days. What surprised me the most was how often I interrupted what I was doing to do something else. I lost a huge amount of time getting distracted from one activity to another. Even if I wasn’t wasting time in front of TV, I was still wasting time through inefficiency and lack of focus. It was a great exercise and I echo your encouragement to try it!
Galen Pearl recently posted..The Good Old Days
Hi Galen,
It’s amazing isn’t it? We think we’re very productive, when on closer examination of our time, we find so many opportunities to increase our productivity. Until we open our eyes fully, we won’t take it all in.
Thanks for commenting!
Glad you found the exercise helpful… amazing what can happen if we choose to consciously invest our time.
Working on your business–is that investing my time or spending it? The reason I am asking is that at times, I feel spent after a full day.
jim syyap recently posted..Simple Ways To Make Your Site Easy To Read
Hi Jim,
I can’t speak for Steve, but my guess would be that it depends on the work that you do. Some work is investing, such as reinforcing your business’ future. Other work is spending, such as the daily tasks that we must do to keep our business afloat.
The main point is to realise that we only have a limited time for each day, and as long as the time isn’t consciously wasted, then it’ll automatically be put to good use
Agreed Stu… that said, time at business can still be ‘spent’ vs invested. Most entrepreneurs need to ‘invest’ at least 50% of their time in sales-focused activities. Anything less than that is likely time ‘spent’….
Steve Olsher recently posted..By: Wisdom in the Whisper™ Lesson: What I learned from Steve Olsher – Living in “The Zone” « Wisdom in the Whisper™
Interesting Steve, why do entrepreneurs need to invest at least 50% of the time? Should it often be more than 50%?
Great perspective. I like the idea of investing my time in what is important to me.
Great reminder. Thanks.
Hi Brad,
I’m happy for you – keep remembering!
Fantastic post, Steve. Sometimes, we may fall short on enough time to focus in the way we would really like to, but if the end result is valuable to us and is truly worth attaining, and if it becomes desirable, then we will find a way to get that time in eventually.
Thanks for the contact, Stu! Your time will even out as well.
Bryan recently posted..21 Bloggers Share their Most Powerful Christmas Memory, Pt. 1
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for stopping by! For sure, our time will matter to us one way or another. All we need is some awareness as to where it goes – a little awareness goes a long way!
Take care
Hi Steve!
Time (and the use of all resources) is all about trade-offs. Since we can’t use the same time for two different activities, we have to choose among competing alternatives. What is surprising is how little of our discretionary time is really used very well. So much is frittered away doing unproductive, time-wasting activities that leave us feeling unfulfilled. TV, Facebook, Twitter, X-Box, and so many other activities that rob us of the opportunities to truly create something meaningful with our time.
Thanks for the message here, Steve. Well said!
Ken Wert recently posted..Random Acts of Wisdom II: Living by Principles
Hi Ken,
You’re right, we usually have a variety of choices that fall into one of two categories – ‘meaningful’ and ‘unproductive’. Which action we choose at each given moment defines where our results will lie.
Ken, have you experienced a situation where you have consciously chosen how you spent your time?
Thanks for commenting my friend
Thanks for the note… life is all about choice. Hopefully, our choices reflect our increased wisdom as we grow…
Steve Olsher recently posted..By: Wisdom in the Whisper™ Lesson: What I learned from Steve Olsher – Living in “The Zone” « Wisdom in the Whisper™
That’s the idea – we learn from experience
Great post, Steve! Indeed, no matter how we would want to have more time, we only get 16 hours to work with in a day (since the other 8 are for sleeping). Investing our time to what is important is the best way to make the most of it.
Adeline recently posted..Bellissimo Evening at LIncontro Italian Restaurant
Hi Adeline,
Great point, thanks for stopping by and adding your insights!
Fantastic post, Steve! I love it
Lives are made up of moments, and my definition of ‘success’ is when we have made as many of those moments as possible… happy ones.
I’d also like to add in regards to this line:
“Tens of millions of people know who the celebrity of the moment is dating. But only a fraction of that vast audience can plainly state what they want for themselves.”
That I address the issue of fame + celebrity all the time (I have a guest post coming up for LauraRoeder.com in a few months on Kim Kardashian), and the funny thing about this is generally the ‘famous celebs’ people are watching… DO know what they want and DO have a 6-month/1-year plan lol
Awesome stuff
Hi Jason,
Indeed, these celebrities that we know so much about – what do we actually know? We know bits of trivia, but do we know what got them to that status in the first place? And if we do, do we implement this knowledge?
Great point to make Jason, thanks
Exactly, you totally get where I was going, Stu, thank you man.
No worries my friend
Agreed… interestingly enough Will Smith was once quoted as saying he has a 50 year plan (or something outrageous like that)… many celebrities are VERY smart, capable, and their actions (or variation thereof) can, and should, be emulated.
Steve Olsher recently posted..By: Wisdom in the Whisper™ Lesson: What I learned from Steve Olsher – Living in “The Zone” « Wisdom in the Whisper™
Amazing that Will Smith has such a long-term plan! I wonder how detailed he has been able to be with that plan?
Of course people would love to invest their time than spend their time. However, it can mean different things. For example, sleeping is not spending your time in bed, rather it’s investing your energy to be productive the next day… It’s all about wording and attitude.Lastly, do you think comment on other blogs is investing or spending your time?
Jonathan Gaurano recently posted..Would You Want Hitler To Go To Heaven?
Hi Jonathan,
Wording definitely plays a part in this, as does attitude. One man’s waste is another man’s wisdom!
For your question, I believe commenting is a useful strategy for keeping up relationships, networking, and discovering new and exciting blogs. These are reasons to justify it’s worth
Jonathan, many people have stated that if you place intention on certain elements of life (healing, prosperity, goal setting, etc..) before you go to sleep and ask your subconscious to focus on your desired results while sleeping, amazing things can happen. If that is possible, it could certainly be argued that this time spent can, in fact, be converted to time invested….
Something to ponder.
Steve Olsher recently posted..By: Wisdom in the Whisper™ Lesson: What I learned from Steve Olsher – Living in “The Zone” « Wisdom in the Whisper™
I would definitely vouch for the power of the sub-conscious mind! I know that those goals that I believed I could achieve sub-consciously as well as consciously, are the goals that I achieved
Time management is definitely the key to becoming productive. Although it might be hard at first, once the routine has been established it should be a whole lot easier.
Josh Sarz recently posted..Christmas – The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Hi Josh,
That’s always the challenge with routine – getting it set into our days. A routine works best when settled, and so once that initial period is over, the rest becomes easier.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Steve,
I guess we could say that investing time is really just spending it on the things that will give us a good ROI. Ultimately, time does not exist, it is not tangible:)
Cheers,
Matt
Matt recently posted..Something From Nothing: How To Make Your Audience Love You
Hi Matt,
You’re right, time is not endless for us, we only have a set amount of years, months, days and hours with which to play with. Best make sure they’re used right.
Thanks for commenting
Hi Stu,
thanks for this great Post. I visit another site and there was the question: The great why!!!
Why i stand up every morning? why i work hard?
It’s easy… i stand up every day, and i work for my dream… start my own business next year.
And i want “spent” my time for my family, my son, my boyfriend and MY OWN BUSINESS.
And than…. i invest and spend time… for me and my dream.
I think your post very interesting and this discussion inspiring for all people.
Sandy
Wish you merry Christmas and enjoy, spend time with your family and friends. It’s an investment.
Loving greetings from good old Germany
Sandy recently posted..Cougars Dating für reifere Frauen
Hi Sandy,
And a very merry Christmas to you too! Thank you for commenting, it sounds like you know how to deal with your time!
How are things over in your end of Germany? I’m intrigued by visiting Germany – it seems a place to visit which is unlike the standard tourist affair.
I might have to persuade my girlfriend to travel there one year
Hi Stu,
Nice post. The best thing i found about your post was how simply you have made such a strong point. You make this so easy to decide what we should do with our time – spend it or invest it?. The answer seems so obvious yet few among us follow it.
I have to admit that i was just going through this post in a casual manner but these few lines really made me think :
” When you choose to devote an hour to something that doesn’t advance your life’s goals, you’ve spent that time. It’s no longer yours to use, and there’s nothing you can do to get it back. You weighed your options as to what you could do with your time, and you chose to spend it on an activity that didn’t help you become who you want to be.”
Simple and Superb.
Glad that i read this post.
Rahul Singh recently posted..Why I Created My Blog
Hi Rahul, great to hear from you again!
It wasn’t me who wrote this post, that honour lies with Steve Olsher, but thank you all the same for writing such kind words. And I’m happy that you caught a few lines that made you stop and think about your time and where it really goes – that’s a good situation to be in!
Take care
Oops! Thanks for correcting me. Forgot to mention Steve in above post.Guess i got too involved in thinking after reading this
Thanks to steve too for writing this for all of us.
No worries Rahul
Simple and superb… now there’s a mantra to live by…. Thanks!
Steve Olsher recently posted..By: Wisdom in the Whisper™ Lesson: What I learned from Steve Olsher – Living in “The Zone” « Wisdom in the Whisper™
Poetry in motion!