Adam RicoOne huge obstacle to finding your passion is thinking we don’t have enough time.
You may have a job, a significant other, kids, ailing parents, church or volunteer commitments.
It just seems like your life is already maxed out.
How in the world will you find the time to search for your passions?
As a result we don’t think we have enough time to find our passion.
We choose how to spend our 168 hours every week and often we choose things we like rather than things we love.
When I was in my 20’s I would go to work all day and then come home to play video games.
Football and baseball games were my favorite and I could spend hours creating the perfect team and going through a virtual season.
I liked video games – still do in fact.
However, at some point I realized that video games were not getting me closer to my goals in life.
So I took stock of what I was doing that was either helping or hindering me from achieving my career and life goals.
Then I eliminated the things that were getting in the way of achieving my goals.
Here’s what I’ve learned after going through this process:
Be intentional with your time. Time is a vacuum and if you aren’t clear on your priorities someone or something else will fill your time for you. You may or may not like what they schedule you to be doing.
Create a time budget. Just like a financial budget you can create a time budget. Spend your 168 hours every week on paper before they begin. I sit down almost every Monday morning and review my schedule for the week. I schedule in the most important items I want to accomplish or make sure I spend time with the people most important to me each week to make sure I allow enough time to do those things.
Set some boundaries. In order to ensure you’re making time for your priorities you’re going to have to say no to some things. Sometimes that means saying no to things you like so you can work on things you love. That may be video games, tv time, movies or something else you enjoy. None of those things are bad but you must ask yourself if doing those things is going to get you closer to your goals or doing work you love.
Time is our most precious resource. Time is the one resource we cannot replenish. We can always make more money but time is slowly ticking away never to be reclaimed. We really only have now, and now, and now. Be thoughtful and intentional about the use of your time so that you don’t squander the rest of your days.
I once heard someone say they could tell a person’s priorities by looking at their calendar and their bank statement.
In other words, where do you put your time and your money?
Take stock of those two things and you’ll have a good gauge of what is really most important to you.