value your time
In my last post, I talked about the importance of accountability. Getting your motivation from within and holding yourself responsible for your actions can be difficult, but it is also extremely beneficial to your self-growth. Accountability was the first on the list of my big three, which leaves us with time and honesty. As someone who enjoys a good list every now and then, let’s take some time and dig into it (see what I did there?).
Have you ever found yourself wishing you had more time - more time to accomplish a goal, more time for lunch (especially if you’re having pizza), more time with a loved one? We’ve all been there. Sometimes it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day! Do you ever wonder why that is - why we feel like time is slipping away or that we don’t have enough of it? Well, it’s because we’re all dying, and time is the thing we use to measure our lives. Time is such an important part of our lives that we often take for granted until we start feeling it slip away from us. Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Decades. The list goes on. We also tie the significant events in our lives to specific dates: Birthdays, Graduations, Engagements, Weddings, Anniversaries, and, yes, even Deaths.
I was 15 minutes late for my musical improv practice yesterday with Garage Band. And it killed me. I hate being late because I believe that your time is the most valuable thing you can give to someone else. By being late to practice, I felt the immediate need to apologize because I did not want my team to think that I was disrespecting everyone else’s time. Fortunately, I don’t make a habit of being late, so it was the exception for me and not the rule. Things come up, and it’s important not to beat yourself (or other people) up over minor transgressions. My reputation of consistently being on time for practice allowed me a pass that won’t rock the boat for future practices or cause my team to view me as unreliable.
Does it ever drive you crazy when you organize an activity or make a plan and the other person is late? If it drives you insane, you’re probably like me - you’re someone who really values her time. I view my time as a sort of currency - one I can use to make investments. I spend a lot of my time investing in myself, my personal growth, and the various projects I’m creating, but I also think it’s really important to invest time in other people. Life is relational; human beings crave connection and community. The best relationships I have in my life are with other people who value time and view it the same way I do. They want to get the most out of their days, usually because they’re self-motivated and intrinsically value-driven, which creates an opportunity for magic based in interdependence. There’s an old quote I like that says “it’s not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.” When you find other people who really understand that phrase, those people are worth all the time you can invest. Be one of those people. And if you are one of those people, keep investing in yourself. Trust me, it pays off.
That’s why I felt the need to apologize when I was late to practice yesterday morning. I wanted my teammates who consistently show up and who are committed to what we’re doing to know that our musical improv team is a priority for me. We have so many interdependent people in one place with so much talent that it’s truly something magical, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.
Timing is everything in life, isn’t it? I’ve found it to be ever more true as time passes and I get older. It’s the reason everything happens or doesn’t happen. And yet we can’t really know why things happen the way they do until we can live in the present with the knowledge we’ve gained through our experiences and look at our journey retrospectively, connecting the dots.
So, just for now, I think it’s time (wink wink) I put this topic to rest and get ready to tackle the last of the big three: honesty. I list it third not because it’s the least important but because I believe it’s the most important, and you always save the best for last. Since I’ll be posting a video blog recap of my week on Friday, I’ll take a lot of time this coming weekend to really drill out a valuable post for Monday on honesty. Starve your ego, and feed your soul! And, of course, as always, if you have any pressing questions or if you want to discuss something further, feel free to subscribe below or reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so grateful that I’ve been getting a lot of really challenging questions and even better feedback. I’m here for you, and I love hearing from you, too!