What is your relationship with time?

Have you ever wondered why some people get so much more done, despite having exactly the same available time as you do ?

Time might feel like a linear concept for most of us, but this is mostly an illusion. In reality, you are the source of your time and therefore you can create all the time you need for what is important to you.

Especially in our western societies, it has become a badge of honour to be ‘busy’. But when you take a closer look around, you will see that most busy people are merely busy fools. They are extremely busy doing the wrong thing purely for the purpose of being too busy to confront and do what they really need to do.

It might sound counterintuitive to suggest that busyness is a form of laziness, but this is exactly the case. Consider this: 5-10% of what you do is responsible for 90-95% of your results. If you want to be a successful business owner, then the factors that will determine your success are the effectiveness of your marketing, the number of conversations you have with your ideal customers, and your skills in convincing people that you have a solution to their problem. Most importantly, that their problem is expensive enough to invest in!

As an artist, your success is largely determined by your ability to network with influential people in your niche in order to get access to these prestigious gigs, gallery exhibitions and high profile fairs, as well as your ability to convince the right people that your art is worth investing in as it will embellish their lives.

These are all activities that will take you out of your comfort zone. However, your ability to work hard on the other 90-95% doesn’t give you a competitive advantage. You will find that most solopreneurs work as hard as you do.

Don’t let time be a constraint on what you can achieve. Instead of complaining about not having time, ask yourself: “how can I make happen what I want to achieve within my self-imposed limitations such as working two hours a day, or when kids are asleep, during the holidays etc?” If you don’t have the answer, this is not a sign to give up. Reflect until you find a way. This is important stuff.

I don’t like New Year resolutions; if something is important enough, then why wait until the 1st January, or any other arbitrary date to start working towards achieving it? However, if you do decide to make a resolution this year, then decide to focus on the 5-10% that makes the difference in your business and life and I promise, this will make 2021 extraordinary. Continue to focus on the 90-95% that doesn’t make the difference and your year will be similar to the previous ones. Your choice either way!