Time is of the Essence.... Or is it?

First, I want to state that no matter what you do in your life, no matter if you are 20, 45, or 32 years-old, you have nothing but time, yet time is the one thing many of us have a hard time developing a healthy relationship with it. Just think about it, the first thing you do to start your day is what? Slamming that damned alarm clock, this isn't a great start to say the least. Let's be honest, how are we supposed to have a solid relationship with something that we dread to wake up to every morning?

Time is something that we all have the power to control, yet many of us submit our control to life every single day. Let me articulate something for you; imagine the time we get in a day revolving around YOU, not you revolving around time. This strategy may seem a bit abstract, but we do make time for what is important to us, which at a philosophical standpoint, time is more than deserving of our importance. I have spent many years being stressed about crunching as many tasks into a 24 hour time period as possible, until I realized something about time the I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk (the full interview is below and right / the full transcript is from Gary Vaynerchuk's blog which you can find here),

"You’ve gotta deploy patience and you gotta love the process. I’m addicted to the process of the battle scars, the setbacks, the lack of " -Gary Vaynerchuk

This strategy of "deploying patience" is something that I never really applied to my life, yet is something that I always knew. This is a rather perplexing yet common function of the human condition. This function being that we always seem to know what is best for us, we often times don't practice it. No matter what it is, "deploying patience" is just one of many examples of this functionality.

Alright, rant over.

Back to the topic at hand, developing a good and solid framework of our twenty-four is something that is a requirement, especially if you want to take control of your life. Essentially, many of us who proclaim they are "proactive" or "ambitious" or even "hard-working" often times forget about efficiency in their effective action. This concept of working hard is definitely a skill that many should have, especially if their goal is about making an impact on the world. However, working smarter is a strategy that is underplayed dramatically.

I'll give you another example:

Throughout my academic career, I have always believed in making as many contact points with the material as possible. I define "contact points" as coming in contact with as many senses as you can in order to fully grasp the material. So, I would hear it in lecture, take notes on this lecture, highlight key concepts from the lecture, then do the same within the chapter discussed. This strategy was very successful, yet it took up so much of my time, I seldom had time for anything else besides my 4 to 6 classes I was/am taking. I hit a point where I was burnt out and felt as though I had no more time in my day, yet I felt as though my level of time management was at its best. It was at this point I had to internalize where all of my time was going.

Essentially, I had to look instead at how I was using my time, instead of what I was putting into my day. Developing a solid relationship with time develops not only a great sense of structure in your life, but it allows you to be more free and liberated (regarding time) as well.

Now, I want to help you out in this dialogue. First, I want you to imagine of being completely in control of your time. What does that look like? If you're like many people, you have no idea and I want you to know that that is 100% okay! It is a process that cannot be perfected in one fell swoop. Just take it one step at a time. Any task that is done correctly cannot be achieved overnight. If you feel as though you can master this craft (or any for that matter) over night, be my guest.

I personally think that famous game show host and producer, Monty Hall says it best:

"Actually I'm an overnight success, but it took twenty years" -Monty Hall

If you haven't gotten anything from this post, understand this: a strong relationship with time (i.e. patience) is highly conducive to a strong relationship with yourself because of one's discipline to be in total control of the things that an individual can control. Reflecting on this, understand that this process is life-long and never-ending. However, don't take this as a burdening summit to not pursue. This process and lifelong pursuit of perfection is impossible because we are human, but if you treat it as if it is possible, you will develop a life full of happiness, optimism, diligence, and hard work.

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