People sometimes ask me how I am able to spend an hour a day writing these posts, study an hour a day, exercise for one hour, and watch two shows a day on top of having a full-time job and being a father.
In other words, they want to know where I find the time to do all my stuff.
Valid question.
One thing’s for sure, I don’t find it under the couch.
Instead I make the time.
No matter where we live, what we do, what beliefs we have, each of us has been given 24 hours a day.
Unfortunately most of the time we are given is spent doing what we must do, rather than what we want to do.
The other day I sat down with a client and talked about an average person’s day broken down into hours. It was rather revealing so I thought I’d share the results with you here.
On average they spend about
- 9 hours at their office.
- 7 hours in bed.
- 3 hours in their living room.
- 3 hours outside.
- 1 hour in their dining room.
- 1 hour miscellaneous.
That’s it. 24 hours. 2/3 of our days taken up by work and sleep.
Then out of the last 1/3 we only really get a say in how we spend 3 hours.
Those 3 hours will often determine the course of our lives.
Choose to invest them into acquiring a new skill and it’s very likely that in a few years you could pursue a new career.
If your life is heading in the direction you want, then keep going. But if not, having that new skill is like the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in the game of Monopoly.
There’s no need to use it but you’ve got it if you need it.
I became an amateur magician by devoting 2 hours every day for a year and 3 months.
I put aside 30 minutes a day for over 4 years to learn about finance.
The formula is simple – the more time you spend on something, the faster you learn it. It’s not rocket science.
The problem isn’t knowing how to do it but rather if we’ll do it.
How often have we heard people say that they COULD do it, but never do.
Of course anyone can…but not everyone will.
Regardless of who we are or what we do we all put time into things we want to. We choose what that is.
As some of you might know, I chose TV for many years.
Computer games had their turn.
But, in the end, I made the decision to invest in the thing that determines my future – myself.
And I’ve never looked back. I trust you will, too.
Adrian Shepherd