“I Don’t Have Enough Time”

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that we don’t have enough time or money to do the things we really want. How many of us have said things like, “I wish I had time to read more.” “I wish I could travel” “I wish I had time to be more involved in my community.” “I wish I could afford to be more generous.” But they remain wishes because we tell ourselves we don’t have the time, the money or other resources.

I recently saw a quote that said, “The first step toward getting what you want is having the courage to get rid of what you don’t.”

This is definitely true. We can’t do it all at the same time, so choices must be made. However, most of us don’t have too hard a time letting go of the things we don’t want. The greater difficulty seems to lie in sacrificing some of the things we want for the things we want even more. So perhaps it might be better to say “The first step toward getting what you want is having the courage to get rid of the things you want less.”

My husband and I decided we want to travel more. So we sold our house and moved into a townhome. I took on some extra work. And we signed up for a travel deal notification service. A while later we found a great deal on tickets and booked a trip to Rome. It was a wonderful trip. When we returned home, we had several people say things like, “Wow, I wish I could take a trip like that. I would love to travel, but I can’t afford it.” The interesting thing is that my husband and I weren’t making any more money than the people who said that. In several cases we were even making less. We simply chose to spend our money in different ways. I explained how we had sold our home, and taken on extra work to be able to go, and encouraged them, saying that if they really wanted to travel, they could find a way to make it possible too. However, most of them turned away uninterested. They wanted to travel, but didn’t want it enough to give up anything they already had to get it.

I wish I could play an instrument. I have even started lessons a few times: piano, cello, penny whistle… However, each time, I have given it up. It’s not that I don’t want to play an instrument. I really do wish I could play one. But it comes down to the fact that I am simply not willing to put in the effort and make the sacrifices necessary to truly learn.

Most of us want to have a positive impact on the world, but how many of us are willing to sacrifice something else, in order to do it?

When we say we don’t have the time or resources, what we’re really saying is that these things are not enough of a priority right now for us to make the time to do them. I’m not saying that we should be running ourselves ragged, or going into debt to do it all. There is nothing wrong with having priorities–in fact we need to prioritize because we simply cannot do everything. What I am saying, is that we need to make sure we are intentionally choosing our priorities rather than having them chosen for us by default. We need to make sure that we’re not missing out on what is truly important to us because we’re filing our time and using our resources in pursuit of things which are less important.

It’s not possible to find the time to do everything. But it is possible to make the time to do what is truly important to us–IF we are willing to sacrifice some of the things we want less.

Today, take a minute and think about what is really important to you. Then ask yourself, “do my priorities say the same?” If not, have the courage to let go of the things you want less, so you can fill your life with the things you want more.