Tomorrow I’ll reform the fool doth say, today already too late, the wise did yesterday.
I’ve got a couple of questions for you:
First, what change do you want to see in your life that you believe will bring you greater satisfaction? Is it a house project? Is it learning to play the guitar? Is it earning a credential like a, project management or human resources certification, that would help you advance in your career? What is this change you’d like to make?
And question 2, when do you plan to get started creating this change you want to see in your life?
Last week I met with a potential client who wanted to work with me to build her self-confidence in order to start her business. She seemed motivated to get from where she is to where she wants to be and she said yes to working with me, but when I said, “Great, h ow about we get started next week” she said, “oh I was thinking about getting started after the first of the year.”
When I heard my potential client say this, essentially kicking her opportunity to begin doing things differently and take back control other life down the road, I was reminded of this excuse of time so many of us fall prey too.
This was a familiar refrain I’d heard so many times during my career in direct sales. Prospective customers and recruits couldn’t commit to buying or starting their sales consultant careers during the months of October, November, or December because they were too busy and/or money was tight because of the holidays. Neither one of these excuses holds water. If you want to do something you will find the time or money to do it and in the industry I was working at the time the opportunity for higher sales fell smack dab during these three months.
It’s as if the world stops during this time of year in so many people’s minds. If you have goals and aspirations for improving yourself and your life experiences why would you completely throw away valuable time because the rest of society says this time of the year, the holiday season (if you can even count now as the holiday season) is not a good time to spend any time on things outside of holiday pursuits. This is all or nothing thinking.
During these months You might need to be more aware of different time constraints and routines when planning your time, but that doesn’t mean you have to write off every minute of every day of the last three months of the year.
Don’t let what you can’t do, interfere with what you can do. If you have a goal you want to work on or perhaps you are currently working toward one, think of the progress you could make if you stopped using this time of the year in particular, and time in general as an excuse, as a reason not to get started or a reason to not continue working toward you hopes and dreams.
Life is a river of passing events, swift is its current. Are you okay with being swept away by time and life’s fast current without doing those things that improve the quality of your life? Are you willing to allow time to be the reason you didn’t reach your goals and dreams?
There are about ten weeks left in 2018. Will they be filled with opportunities to move forward or with excuses to stay put?
Patricia Brooks is a life experiences coach, speaker, and the author of Growing Bold: How to Overcome Fear, Build Confidence, and Love the Life you Live. She is the host of the Discovering Courage Podcast where each week she explores how ordinary people have managed to live extraordinary lives. Patricia is currently living in France, pursuing her dreams.
Photo Credit: forrest cavale