You have enough time if it's important enough.

Gain accountability, self awareness and clarity by replacing "I don't have enough time" with "It's not important enough for me to make time for". We all have 24 hours a day and it really just comes down to what is and is not a priority in your life. By changing this phrase you go from making an excuse to owning (or discovering) what is important enough for you to make time for.

I found myself saying this about Jiu Jitsu last year and realized I had to find a way to create time for it. I had a hard time showing up for evening group classes and caught myself using the 'not enough time' excuse. I get up early for my morning routine so I can get a lot done but by the time I was done with work, I was hungry, tired and wanted to be with my family. It wasn't that I didn't have enough time, it was that other things were more important. I realized I needed to create some space because Jiu Jitsu IS important to me so I started leaving work an hour early on Tuesday's so I could do a private lesson. Private lessons costs more but I get more detailed coaching (more value for my money) and in a time that works for me and allows me to still be home on time and be with my family. By replacing "I don't have enough time" with "It's not important enough for me to make time for" I ultimately found a better way of doing it by being accountable.

At work sometimes people tell me they would like to make it to the Mindset Class but they don't have enough time because they 'gotta make calls'. That's fine, it's not going to hurt my feelings, but let's be real, it comes down to calls are more important to that person than mindset training which is totally OK. Let's call it for what it is though and maybe if you do, you might discover that you value the 'work' part more than the 'mindset' part. It may even cause you to think that it could be good to balance work activity with mindset activity.

People also say that about meditation a lot, but meditation actually helps you with time management because it helps you become more organized and have clarity. But i get it, it's hard to know that unless you've done it to the point where it is a solid habit to reap the rewards. Again, once you re-frame it, you may realize that you are putting off things that you might want to give some importance to.

Think about this in the context of personal growth and getting out of your comfort zone: Saying you don't have time for something might also be your lizard brain (the oldest part of your brain that is responsible for primitive survival) trying to keep you in familiar territory and away from getting out of your comfort zone. As we all know, the job of the lizard brain is to keep you safe. When things are unfamiliar, your lizard brain will create all kinds of excuses, stories or negative self talk. So with that in mind, is it really that you don't have enough time? Or is that your lizard brain telling you that in order to keep you from trying new and unfamiliar things?

Give this tip a try and see if it helps you with your accountability, clarity and time management. Also try to recognize if you are wanting to grow and your lizard brain is trying to give you a way out by trying to make you think you don't have enough time.