When I work with people on their business plans and goals, I often here this:

I just don’t have the time.

I have a question for you:

Do you not HAVE the time – OR – do you not MAKE the time?

I know that in my early years in business, this was a narrative that I would tell myself. I felt overwhelmed with ALL. THE. THINGS.

I don’t have time to start a new collection right now.

I just wish there was more time to devote to my blog.

I just wish I had time for networking… I just don’t seem to be meeting people in the industry.

But with age I’ve come to the conclusion that: Time is an easy excuse.

It’s not about having time; it’s about making time.

If you line up all of your priorities in life and in business, you will make time for the things that are the most important. Those things maybe your family, health, client work, and new business projects. Prioritizing is the hardest part of having a business and reaching big goals.

BUT – We all have the same 24 hours in a day. How do you choose to allot them?

beyonce

NEWSFLASH:
You cannot do EVERYTHING in a 24 hour day.

I am NOT encouraging you to be superwoman or superman. BUT – I want you to think deep about what your REALLY want to do in any given day? Choose how to fill your day.

Your day is likely a mix of have-to-do’s and want-to-do’s. In some years, your day is going to be full of many more have-to-do’s than want-to-do’s (like when you have newborn babies or newborn puppies or a day job). That’s LIFE. But – even in the busiest most insane days, there is always 30 minutes for a WANT-TO-DO.

Are you making 30 minutes of time for the want-to-do’s?

Are you bogged down by only the HAVE-TO-DO’s?

I have so much to do. This is a narrative that is weighing you down.

When I started this blog almost 8 years ago, I committed to waking up at 5 AM every single morning to write one blog post. I did that religiously every weekday for three years when I let up to ~3 posts/week. I didn’t have time to do that. I had a baby who would wake up at 6am. (I also loathe mornings with every ounce of my being.) I found a way to prioritize it in my schedule and worked it in so that I could achieve this. Sage Wedding Pros would be nothing if it wasn’t for that commitment that I made eight years ago.

WHEN you say YES to one thing, you’ll say NO to something else.

It’s OK to NOT make time for the things that aren’t important to you. When you choose to NOT do something, it is because you aren’t making time for it. And – that’s OK! You have to say no to some things so that you can say yes to priorities.

I’ve made a lot of choices that I’ve had to walk away from. I simply realized that in my 24 hour day, I could not make the time for a project and give it my all. In saying yes to writing the blog in 2009, I said no to sleeping in – which meant that I didn’t attend networking events late at night. 

I want you to be intentional:

I say yes to this for right now because it’s a priority.

I say no to this because it’s just not as important, right now.

Let’s change the way that we talk about our time.

It’s not about not having time. I’ve been working to to express the following lately:

While this is something important, I have other priorities I need to focus on first.

While this is something I’d love to do, I can’t make time to do it fully.

In a nutshell:

If I can’t devote time to build something of value, it’s not worth my time.

What are your thoughts on this? Share in a comment below.