The Life Coach And Time

“The difference between a job and a career is the difference between forty and sixty hours a week.” – Robert Frost

Time.  It seems like a constant battle we face and one we never seem to win.  Each one of us struggle to get as much time as we can to achieve our goals and dreams, and yet, we find there is no more to get.  Nothing follows the rule of nature more than time.  There are always exceptions to the rules.  Even gravity has been defied at times, but not true for time.  There has always been, and always will be, 60 seconds in the minute, 60 minutes in the hour and 24 hours in the day.  You, no matter how clever, intelligent, wealthy or powerful you are, get no more and no less.

                We have books, seminars and teachings of all manner about time management.  The truth is, you cannot manage time at all.  It does not give itself to tricks or formulas, you can only manage yourself.  It is what you do in the time you have (which is the same for everyone) that matters.  For the person seeking to become a full-time life coach, this is critical to understand just what time means to you and how you can work within its boundaries for your benefit.

                Since time cannot be changed, added to or manipulated, we must learn how to use and work with time.  There are three key areas that every person (although I am addressing coaches here) needs to focus on when facing the issue of time.  These are: accepting time, using time, and respecting time.

Accepting Time

                The well known Serenity Prayer is: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference."  There is great freedom and hope in the knowledge of what you can and cannot change.  Most things in life you can change and it is the help to bring about that change that we as coaches do.  However, two very key things cannot be changed, one is the past and the other is time.

                Accepting that which cannot be change is important when looking at the past.  You can learn from the past, you can forgive the past and sometimes you can even correct past mistakes, however you cannot change the past.  We must accept that truth and move forward.  Too many people are stuck in life trying to relive or change the past somehow.  Since it cannot be done, they cannot move on. 

                In much the same way, we need to accept the fact that we cannot change time.  Hours are wasted trying to think of ways to get more time.  It will not happen.  Every minute you spend trying to save time you lose time.  Once that minute goes by you lose it forever; it will never be lived again.  There is a great freedom in knowing that you have the same time as everyone who has or ever will live.  Many have made wonderful use of that time and have achieved great things.  You can too.  You will find that those who make the most of their time and the people who do not worry about how much of it they have.

Using Time

                I would say that the best way to make every minute count is to have a plan and follow that plan.  Twenty minutes of planning will save you hours of wasted and misused time.  Have a schedule and follow it.  Protect yourself from interruptions and time stealers (that is another subject for a later time).  Do not start you day thinking you will deal with things as they come along.  Start the day knowing what you will achieve and them, achieve it.

                Here is a bit of an exercise for you.  Take one day and keep track of all you do.  I mean everything.  When you eat, sleep, read, use the bathroom, everything.  Note the time you start and finish so you have a tally of the time.  Now, review that list at the end of the day and total the time that you wasted or misused.  You will find that will be hours of the day.  Now, list all that you need to do to be productive.  The next day, fill the time you wasted with these things and you will see that you have accomplished so much more and you got no more time than you had before.

Respect Time

                Few things are more valuable to you than your time.  It needs to be treated with respect and care.  That goes for the time of others as well.  One of the greatest harms we do to each other is not respecting each other's time.  If you have an appointment, be on time.  Make punctuality a value in your life.  People treat not being punctual as if it were something to joke about.  "I am never on time." or "I am always early."  Just be on time.  This is not that difficult of issue to solve.

                I know that some like to set a clock ten minutes early thinking that helps them be on time.  That is really silly when you think of it.  What do you think of when you look at the clock?  "I still have ten minutes."  Just be honest with yourself and know when you must be at an appointment and be there.

                This habit needs to be taught to your clients as well.  Stress to them that being punctual is critical to your relationship.  If they are late, they will need to make another appointment.  I always have things to do before an appointment so that if someone is late, I have not lost any productive time.  I will give ten to fifteen minutes grace for an appointment (I do not tell them that) but after that I move on and they must reschedule.  Of course, if they call with a actual reason why they will be late I will accommodate them.  Again, I will have things to do if plans should change.

                Your time is valuable.  You cannot replace it, save it or give it away.  Use it wisely and you will be productive and content.  We do not know how much time the Lord will entrust to us on this earth, but we do know that the time we get is all ours.  It is a wonderful gift and needs to be treated that way.

John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey