Staying busy is killing your success

"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." --Stephen Covey

You are focused and determined everyday, accomplishing tasks and going down your to do list.  From morning until night, you stay busy barely having time to breathe.  Working 60 hours per week, driving the kids all over town to extracurricular activities, and always giving someone a helping hand, no matter who it is.

You stay busy because you are successful and important.  You even brag when someone asks about your day. I am guilty of it, and you may be too.

 I am so busy.  I always volunteer for extra jobs at work, my kids are in two soccer leagues, and I am even baking my boss a cake because I remembered his birthday.

We get so busy in our daily lives, we barely notice there is no time left for our true passions or purpose.  We even pass this mindset along to children.

The cycle continues.

To operate you life on a higher level, you must take a step back away from people and distractions.  You must dig deep and find out what you really want out of life.

Where do you want to be in the future?

What to you want to accomplish and achieve before it's too late?

What do you have a passion to do?

You cannot answer these questions by keeping yourself busy all the time.  

If you want to take control and operate your life with a plan and purpose, you must avoid the trap of being busy with the wrong things.

It is easy to keep yourself distracted from the pain and discomfort of honestly evaluating your life by keeping yourself so busy, there is no time for it.

I'd love to write a book, but I am just too busy right now.  

People tell themselves and other people this all the time.  It is the easy way out.  It's an excuse.

If you want to be normal, then run around and get involved in as many things as you can.

If you want to be extraordinary, find your focus, then begin making time for it.

Many people feel obligated to help anyone who asks them.  No matter who it is.

People have the fear of missing out when everybody else is doing something, so must do it too.  Thank you social media.

This is the beginning of getting distracted.  Many people place there children into as many sports of activities as possible then the parents and kids are under the gun with no free time.  Kids can't go find a stick and pretend to be a knight, there is no time for it.

Despite what is considered normal, being busy is not a bragging right.  Instead, it keeps people from realizing their true potential.  

If you do what the average person does, you will continue to be average.  

Everyone has talents.

Everyone has interests and hobbies they would like to pursue.

Some people have gotten so busy, it may seem impossible to find the time for what really drives them, time for what really fulfills them.  It can be done, even for the busiest people with children.

It is tough to find time to be alone, and for many, it is an uncomfortable thing to do.  The busyness of their lives allows them to push time alone for themselves to the back of the priority list.

Living a life that is too busy creates ongoing stress and anxiety because it will never end.  The list keeps growing, and no matter how hard people try, they never catch up.  This leads to burn out.  Marriages become strained, relationships with children become toxic.  The end result, we get even busier to distract from a life falling apart.

If you are too busy, spending time alone may the last thing you want to do.  Time to think about what is actually going on in your life may seem to painful to look at.

Spending time with yourself is the beginning of making a positive change.

It sounds simple.  You have to know what you want before you decide what to do.

Take an honest look at who you are spending time with.  You become who you hang out with.  Are there some people taking up your time that do nothing for you in return?  Create some distance of avoid them if necessary.

Figure out what you are doing with the hours you have in a day. Write down every hour of the day and see what you are doing.  This will help see where you can fit time in for what you really want to do.  You may need a better routine,  maybe a habit of waking up a little earlier.

Spend some time with your kids and play with them before entering them in every activity known to man.  If you don't know the sport or activity, look it up and learn together.  There are only positive benefits of learning new things with your children.

 You may want to start a business doing something you enjoy.  If you are too busy, this will never happen.  Are you volunteering for extra projects at work?  Could you put that focus into a venture of your own?

These are just examples of what to think about in time spent alone with just yourself.  We are all unique, with different interest and desires.  The sad thing is, many people simply become too busy trying to keep up with everyone else.  They are chasing success the way is is defined for everyone else.

Only YOU know what success means in your life.  Falling into the routine of staying busy and keeping up with everyone else is holding you back from your true potential.

Just being a hard worker, can be a detriment to your success.  Being a hard worker is a great quality to have.  With the right focus, it can be a huge asset.  Unfortunately the focus gets lost, and we begin to lose direction.

We deplete our energy and time to things that don't bring us closer to our ultimate goals.  Don't get me wrong, there many things we must do that are not specific to are personal goals. 

It's time to make a plan.

Just like a money budget, your focus and time needs to be carefully planned and budgeted.  Having money to pay a mortgage of electricity bill is not an option.  You make sure the money is there every month.

 Failing to plan your focus on your true goals, is not an option.

This is mission failure.

No matter what, the time should be there for you energy and focus.  No excuses.

You will never catch up when your focus is not strategically mapped out.  There is always something else to do.  There is always someone else to keep up with.

When you do not make time to figure out your who you are, staying busy all the time, you'll be easily influenced on everyone else's version of success.

Hey look at me!  I just got a new car, and traded in my perfectly good car to get it!  Now I have another payment on something that will be worth a quarter of its value in 5 years!

Hey look at me!  My kids are in so many activities, they stay so busy, I can't find time to spend with them!

Hey look at me!  I just got promoted to supervisor of the Widget company!  Now I even have less time to focus on what I love doing! I got a 10,000 dollar a year raise, which I will barely even notice!

If someone gets offended or tries to make you feel bad for taking time for yourself, it's time to question if they belong in your life.

If you don't have a solid plan of action, or know who you are, other people's goals will become yours. There are tons of people looking to everybody else for what they should be doing.  It's sad.

Listen to yourself.

You are unlike anyone else on the planet.

Don't blend in and be like everyone else.

There are plenty of people out there following what everyone else is doing, a world full of followers.  The world needs more people to lead.  The only way to truly lead, is to have a strong direction, plan, and focus in life.  The world needs our unique talents and energy.

Spend some time alone, figure out your true passions and goals, make time to work on your goals, and contribute your own unique impact on this world.

Find your version of success, and begin working toward it.



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