Hey there, Mikala here.
And I want to teach you little known ways that help you create the life you want to live.
Have you used the excuse “I don’t have enough time”?
Yep, I’m a guilty party right here.
It’s become a habit – this task isn’t something I’m excited or passionate about, so I’m going to claim a lack of time as my excuse.
Yes, excuses. If you’ve got a reason, then it’s ok, right?
- You’ve got too much work to do
- You’re too busy running around looking after the kids
- You’ve got to feed the dog
- Clean the house
And the most common excuse to NOT do something…..you don’t have time.
It’s an acceptable excuse and, until now, a reliable one.
But here’s the truth…
Despite what you tell yourself, you OWN your time.
You have 100% free will to do whatever the hell you want with your time.
Must you work?
Nope, but you CHOOSE too.
So you have the money you need to support the lifestyle you want.
Must you take the kids to sports practice?
No again, but you CHOOSE too.
So they learn the value of commitment, exercise and teamwork.
HAVE to cook a healthy dinner for your family every night?
You guessed it. The answer is NO. But you CHOOSE to do it.
So you can save money on take-out. And ensure you feed your family with healthy meals.
You have free will to make your own choices.
And you always spend your time the way you WANT to.
This free will means you must get clear on what you want to create in your life.
How do I know this?
Following a recent diagnosis, I now work 20 hours a week with heaps of space for rest, creativity and taking on new and exciting projects.
What did I do before?
An average of 40 hours a week with endless tasks and little downtime. And not much space in my calendar for weeks in advance
The 40 hours a week, Mikala was constantly feeling tired, being busy and overwhelmed.
The new and improved Mikala is calm, relaxed and confident about the uncertainty of my future.
What changed?
My thoughts and beliefs about my time.
Imagine you developed a chronic health condition and could only work 4 hours a day. Or even less.
What would it mean for you and your business?
Could you cope?
Would your business fall apart?
Can you handle stress and uncertainty? Or would it make you worse?
Challenge your thoughts about time.
Because they are thoughts. Which means they’re not right or wrong. But do your beliefs about time make your situation worse?
Don’t focus on the negative.
Find your positive thoughts about your abilities. The abilities that would help you overcome this obstacle.
Now, what if you don’t have an illness that would change how you spend your time?
You probably don’t. Challenge your thoughts about time anyway.
Because changing what you believe in when it comes to time means creating the life you want to live.
Here’s the thing, time isn’t a magical fantasy. It is there, and you are gifted 24 hours in each day of your life.
So how will you live them?
The keys to the kingdom of your time are constraint, decide and commitment…
And here’s how to use them to create the life you want to live.
Constraint: priorities, baby, yeah!
Determine your top one or two priorities.
Let ALL the maybes, shoulda and could go.
Then select ONE.
Constrain yourself to your top one. Only. And focus on it and nothing else.
Once you’ve achieved your top one, then you can focus on number two.
Focus your brain. Give it direction and something specific to focus on.
Otherwise, it will be fluffing around and distracted by the should’s and maybe’s.
Don’t waste your brain energy. Give it focus and direction.
And guess what?
The maybe’s, and coulda’s can still get achieved.
But one thing at a time.
Which one do you choose? It doesn’t matter. Don’t live in indecision. Choose one and do it.
Decide: Let the distractions go
Does each of your tasks and activities on your to-do list align with your top priorities?
If not, be gone with them.
If yes, delegate or schedule them into your diary (one at a time) to get them done.
This method applies to your work-life, of course. But use this in your personal life as well.
Let go of the distractions so you can live your best life.
- Spend your time bending over backwards to please others?
- Mindlessly scroll social media?
- Worry about what people think?
Do these activities align with your priorities? If they do, keep doing them.
If not, be a rebel and let them go too.
Commit: Have your own back!
You’ll get thoughts and objections that surface in your brain to distract you from your path.
Nothing has gone wrong here.
In fact, you have a normal human brain that is doing its best to keep you safe.
Why? Because it doesn’t want you to do something you’ve never done before. That’s scary, so it wants you to be safe from harm.
It also doesn’t want you to NOT worry about what other people think. Because it means you may be different and rejected from others.
Uh, oh!
Your brain needs you to be safe because you’re a pack animal. So it’s doing its best to keep you safe.
Accept these thoughts and objections. Acknowledge them and be curious about them.
Get them out of your head by writing them down and then challenge them.
Here are questions and prompts that will help you through this process
- Is this thought true?
- Supposing it might be, what’s the worst-case scenario?
- What is the likelihood of that worst thing happening?
- Is it even true?
- What is the best possible scenario?
- Which scenario do I want to commit myself to?
- Which thoughts am I going to choose to help keep me on track?
Write these positive thoughts down and stick them up somewhere you can see them.
Each time things feel challenging or overwhelming, stop and take a breath.
Remember the worst and best-case scenarios.
So you can re-read the thoughts you chose to help keep you on track.
You’ve got this
Is everyone going to be happy with your choices?
Probably not, but remember
YOUR time is YOURS to do with as YOU wish.
You don’t need to live by anyone else’s rules.
Because you already hard things (duh – you run your own business).
So you can do this too.
Are you with me?