Why Successful People Have Time

Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely.
~Kay Lyons

How many times have you said or heard someone say “I don’t have time…”.  It’s typically used to describe why you or they could not get something done or why we aren’t handling certain things.  Successful people don’t seem to use this phrase as often.  Successful people have time.

Time is one if the greatest excuses of all time.

Yet time is really never the real issue for why people don’t do things.  Time is usually an innocent by-standard, sort of like my two year old daughter who gets blamed for everything that gets broken or drawn on in our house.  She’s just an easy mark and half the time she really is guilty.

You ever hear the phrase “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”.  Why is that?  Busy people know how to manage their time.  Busy people know how to juggle several irons in the fire.

Successful people are busy.  They are making things happen.  They are making sure that they are working on the right things.

If you have ever been to a time management seminar, many of them talk about personal values to start.  Why talk about values?  So that you can get clear on what’s most important.

When’s the last time you really sat down and articulated what’s most important to you?  Not in your mind but on paper?

When you have that clarity, you can then start filtering how you use your time.  We all know that time is finite.  I think it was Jim Rone who said that you can always make more money but you can’t get more time.  Time is a finite currency.

Successful people know this and they manage their time accordingly.  They understand their values.  They set objectives and they run their day based on those objectives.

If you want to be successful in business, you need to manage your time properly and take responsibility for what is going on in your business life.

“I don’t have time” lacks personal responsibility on several levels.  It’s not us who didn’t get the job done, it was time.  If you find yourself having this “lack of time” conversation with yourself on an ongoing basis, you don’t have a time problem.  You have an accountability issue or you are worrying about things that aren’t important.  Either way it’s time to regroup.

How have you been able to address the “I don’t have time” excuse?

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