By any measure you use, my life is amazing. I have a beautiful wife, two amazing children, a great home and job. If you asked me to paint a picture of what I wanted in life 20 years ago, this would be it, only better. Now what? Coast along enjoying what I’ve accomplished?
I was thinking about this question and it reminded me of golf. In particular, Tiger Woods in 1997.
For those of you that don’t remember the early days, he was one of the best amateur golfers of all time. Then he turned pro and kept winning. At The 1997 Masters Tournament, he demolished the field, winning by 12 strokes and setting a new record.
Winning The Masters was a lifelong dream for Tiger. But, everyone knew it would happen. He was just too good.
What was surprising was what he did next.
He completely changed his swing. Not a small tweak, a complete overhaul of the very thing that got him to the top of the golfing world.
It took three years. He won a few tournaments along the way, but never looked as good as he did in The Masters. Then on June 18th, 2000 it began. It all started to click. He won eleven tournaments in the next two years. Most impressive of all, he won six majors during this time, breaking even more records.
I am no Tiger, but I’m ready for an overhaul. The last 20 years was awesome, but I have to think about the next 20.
I began to realize that without a new destination, I was making poor choices in my day-to-day life. It’s difficult to see them. They seem insignificant in the moment, but they are there.
I came to a decision. I love what I have, but I want more. I want more time with my family. I want more flexibility. I want more experiences. I want more passion. And I know I can get it.
With a target in mind, I set to overhaul the one thing that is holding me back. How I spend my time.
Like Tiger’s swing, how I spend my time, will determine my future.
I didn’t stop to think about this, until I thought about my future. To create the life I want, I need to make better use of my time today. It’s simple, but not easy.
Like everyone else, I was killing time.
- Relaxing on the couch, watching the morning news
- Checking Facebook or Twitter
- Reading 3-5 news sites
- Spending a few hours at night catching up on Netflix
Each one of these time killers seems insignificant. But as Benjamin Franklin said, “Lost time is never found again.”
Imagine you did this every day for the next five years. Add it up. Here’s how it looks for me.
20 hours a week * 52 weeks a year = 1,040 hours
1,040 hours * 5 years = 5,200 hours
A full time job is 2,000 hours a year (accounting for time off). My time killers add up to 2.5 years of a full time job.
Time killers don’t just kill time, they kill futures.
I asked myself, “what could I achieve, if I put 20 hours a week into it, over the course of a few years?” The answer was simple. Anything I want.
I compare how I spend my time to someone navigating a cruise liner. These boats aren’t fast. They muddle through the ocean working to reach an exciting destination. After a few days, if they stay off course by even a degree, they will miss their destination.
Killing time puts you off course. The thing is, you won’t realize it until you look back one day. At that point, it’s too late.
- Get up earlier. I moved from 6:30 a.m. to 5 a.m.
- Cut out the news, email and social networks in the morning. Instead, I spend that time learning and writing.
- Get the kids ready for school and drop them off.
- Work from 9-4:15 and then beat the traffic home.
- Spend 30 minutes listening to an audiobook on the drive.
- Enjoy time with the family before bedtime.
- Put the kids to bed by 8 p.m.
- Start taking notes on the next article I want to write
- Be asleep by 9:30.
Time equals life; so, waste your time and waste your life, or master your time and master your life. Alan Lakein
