“I wake up at 5am, I run a business, I have two kids and a wife and I only finish everything by about 11pm. I want to exercise and feel better and I want to connect with my partner more too, but how am I supposed to fit it all in?”
How am I going to fit it in?
How am I going to be able to connect more?
In the context of your current set of habits, you aren’t. How much available time we have is directly related to how we have set up our life. Largely, our habits and conditioning run the show.
I work with a lot of busy people. The thing is, if they were “gifted” a free 2 hour block during the day, they would fill it with other taks. There still would be no pause, no intimate setting with their partner, no stress-reduction, no movement practice.
They have created a daily routine that is a reflection of their habits. Nothing right or wrong here, it’s just what exists.
The habit that is running the show is to create more busyness or activity.
This can go two ways:
1. A continuation of current practice. This means that in 20 years, the habit of filling the 16 or so hours of waking time with work, driving, phones, computers (every other activity besides restorative ones) will have continued. This brings less vitality, energy and life-force to actually hang out with your kids, connect with your partner or reap the rewards of the hard work.
2. A reframing of priorities and a rebuilding of habits. With a focus on maintaining and nurturing your own energy at the top of the list, you end up 20 years down the line with more vitality, strength, radiance than most 20 year olds have today.
Now, two things to note:
– The second option is a long term trade, but it also has rewards in the present moment. The first option on the other hand, has you writing a cheque that you might not be able to cash
– The second is very much aligned with a “growth” strategy. More energy, vitality, strength, resilience, immunity all support growth in relationships, business and other. We are now seeing progressive industry leaders bring this approach into the corporate environment with excellent results.
