The time machine exercise.
In the next 2 minutes, I’m going to prove that time is on your side.
You see, when I talk to people about creating change in their career and life, I commonly hear two things:
I don’t have enough time to focus on me.
I’m too old so what’s the point?
I want to introduce a new way to think about time called, “My Productive Life.”
Reflect on the following ways you can be productive:
Helping your children and grandchildren learn about kindness
Providing service to your clients or employer that solves problems
Giving your time to a local non-profit
Creating something that others find beautiful or useful
Loving your partner and friends in a way they’ve never been loved
These are the things we can do to make this a better world!
However, we have to overcome our limiting beliefs about time. This is where the “My Productive Life” measure comes into the picture.
Consider that most of us aren’t really productive until we’re about 20 years-old. Now also consider, that the average lifespan on this planet is close to 80 years-old.
Based on that, we all have about 60 years of productive life. That’s a lot of time to contribute to this world!
To calculate “My Productive Life,” subtract your age from 80. (If you think you will live longer, change the number!) Take the difference and divide it by 60 (average productive years).
This is what it looks like:
(80 - Your Age) / 60 = % of My Productive Life Left
As an example, I’m 50 years-old.
(80-50) / 60 = 50% of My Productive Life Left
Holy crap! I have 50% of My Productive Life in front of me. I can still make plenty of change happen in my life, career, and community! And same for you.
Time doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. Even if your contributions to this world start at 15 minutes/day, you will make a big difference over your productive life.
What you will find is that 15 minutes/day becomes a healthy habit. And the more you execute that healthy habit with intention, the more it becomes a ritual … people don’t usually quit rituals.
This is WHY I provoked action so much this week via LinkedIn. It’s never too late to get started. Go and make change happen in your life!
