Making Time For What Matters

We all hear: There just aren’t enough hours in the day! We are, as a populace, constantly busy and forever wishing we had more time for the things we need and want to do. Well, sometimes we have to make that time.

Saying we can’t do something because we don’t have the time for it is an excuse—and a bad one at that. If we don’t start calling ourselves out on our excuses, we’re never going to have the lives we want. It’s time to sit down and examine what’s important to you.

“If it’s important, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

That’s the gist of it, guys. If you really, truly cared about doing something enough—whether that something is work-related or personal—you’d do it.

If you’re not finding the time for it, then it’s not important to you. You don’t value it enough. I’ve found that the “no time” excuse primarily affects three areas of our lives.

Honoring Your Heart

Come up with the best excuse you have in your personal life on why you don’t hang out with your friends more. Maybe it’s that you’re too busy with work, or you have kids now. Perhaps you’ve moved and now live further away from them than you once did.

There will always be an excuse, but if it was really important to you, you’d find a way. You’d join them for a run every Tuesday, or you would have a standing coffee date at 8 a.m. every Thursday before you started your workday. Or you would watch your favorite sports team together once a month.

There is always time. You just have to want to find it.

Sharpening Your Mind

Now let’s talk about the reason why you’re not closing enough business or hitting your sales goals. What is your best excuse now?

Maybe you’ll say you don’t have enough time for prospecting. Or you feel shaky on your product information. Perhaps you don’t have your sales script memorized.

Good news! These are all fixable things. Get with your manager and have them drill you about your product. Practice your sales script with your spouse or friend.

Rework your calendar to carve out more prospecting time. Once you root out the true source of your excuse, you can face it head-on instead of continuing to make excuses for yourself.

Strengthening Your Body

Taking better care of yourself is the one thing people always say they wish they had more time for. But like the areas above, this is also a solvable problem.

Maybe it’s not finding time that you struggle with, but finding ways to exercise. If you have bad knees, go see a physical therapist and get some help. Go swimming or do other low-impact activities.

You may have to hunt for the solution that works for you, but it does exist. If you’re at a loss for how to start exercising, open your front door, walk 15 minutes in one direction, then turn around and come home—even if that means looping the parking lot of your condo. There is always an opportunity for you to get out and move.

I want you to sit down and pick your best excuse for personal, business, and exercise failings. Now I want you to dismantle it.

As soon as you finish reading this blog post, text one of your friends to make plans or schedule a walk for this afternoon. If these things are important to you, you will find a way to do them. Consider your priorities, and make the time for what matters to you.

Until next time—go sell some stuff!