Jeff Shuford originally wrote this article for the Huffington Post.
“I don’t have time is the biggest lie you tell yourself” – Grant Cardone
Many of us complain that there is not adequate time in a day, week or month to complete our goals. A Gallup annual lifestyle poll found that Americans are equally likely to say they do not have enough time to do what they want to do. Many of us work two jobs and have school-aged kids at home, where can we find the necessary time to start that important project we have been contemplating working on?
“I suggest that you become obsessed about the things you want; otherwise, you are going to spend a lifetime being obsessed with making up excuses as to why you didn’t get the life you wanted.” – Grant Cardone
“Some groups of Americans experience more time strains and stress than other groups do. These groups include parents of young children, working adults, and younger Americans” says Joseph Carroll of Gallup. Although I have a young child and run a veteran-owned technology business I consistently seem to “create” time for the things I truly want to do. I always have time to go to church and attend NFL games on Sundays. I can always find time for a date night with my wife; I even found time to watch the Olympics this year. So where did the time go and how can I get it back? I can always find time to shop for the suit I need to land the perfect client, unfortunately; a recent NAPO study found that we wear 20% of the clothes we own 80% of the time. The rest hangs there, just in case. We show up to work on Monday despising life; we dread hump day, and we spend Friday planning out our weekends. A Day Runner poll found that 65% of those surveyed, describe themselves as “very” or “insanely” busy.
The reason I enjoy the technological era we are in is due to the abundance of information you can find on-line. I am currently taking a Harvard University computer science class free online. I learned CSS and java on-line through tutorials. I develop mobile apps with the skills I have obtained online; I also leverage technology available online to help my business thrive. Consider making time for what truly matters, developing a new skill and continuing your quest for life-long learning. The reason that I am knowledgeable is not my IQ, it is in the fact that I can dedicate the necessary time to learn any new skill I choose to. The technology industry has taught me that I will never know everything about computer science, technology advances at a faster pace than any other industry. I can, however, leverage technology and learn through tutorials through free websites like Youtube and Edx.
Imagine taking classes and earning certifications through Stanford, Havard, and many more prestigious universities without stepping foot on campus. Kindly stop imagining, the dream is a reality, simply use your internet-enabled device and dedicate the time you were using to go shopping, watch sporting events or laying awake in bed to learn. According to Phys.org, an average person sleeps for one-third of his life. Because of sleep, about 318 months in an average person’s life is spent lying in bed, based on the average life expectancy of 79.5 years, according to The Fact Site.
Many of my colleagues ask me how do I find time to write for the Huffington Post, Business.com, and Florida.com and run my veteran-owned business Tech From Vets. My response is that I would rather work 100 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week. There is nothing holding you back from feeling the accomplishment of leveraging technology and developing a website, becoming a photographer or even starting your own business. Learn the skills that can help you better your life, stop wasting time with unnecessary tasks that offer no benefit to your quest for life-long learning.
