For years, I’ve been thinking about writing a book.  People have encouraged me to do it.  I’ve written outlines.  But I never wrote one.

That is until a friend said he wanted me to write one with him.  This week, I sent off the manuscript.  It’s actually done  (it releases in the spring of this year).

It certainly helped to have a co-author, a deadline and a publisher. But the thing that surprised me is that it wasn’t  as difficult as I thought it would be.  Was it hard work?  Absolutely.  But I could do it.  And I found the time to do it.

For years, I had raised objections in my head as to why I couldn’t do it.  Then I just did it.  Why the difference?

The pressure helps for sure, but I’m also learning to think about time differently.  A few years ago, I realized God gives me and you the same amount of time in the day as everyone else on the planet.  Jesus got 24 hours in a day.  The people  I admire most who accomplish far more than I have don’t get more than 24 hours a day.   They just spend their time differently.  I learned that if I want a different outcome I need to learn how to spend time differently.

So a few years ago I changed the way I think by changing the way I speak. I stopped saying “I don’t have the time”.  Instead, I started saying “I didn’t make the time.”  That made me realize that everything I do is a choice.  It’s a constant reminder to me that I need to make time for what’s important and cut what isn’t. It’s still a daily battle.  I always have more things to do than time to do them, but this shift in thinking has helped a lot.

Take your calendar out right now and look at the next week.  There are only a few things you need to do.  You likely need to sleep, eat three times a day and perhaps show up for work.  Pretty much everything else is a choice.  You chose to have coffee with your friend.  You chose to go snowboarding on Saturday.  You chose to enroll the kids in 62 activities simultaneously.  Get the point?  You don’t have to do any of that.  Sure, you feel pressure to do it, but you don’t have to.  You are authoring your own destiny.

So what have you always wanted to do?  Truth is, you have the time. As much as anyone else on the planet does.  You’re just spending it differently.

What have you found helpful in making the time for things that matter?