"I have no time" is NOT your reality ~ It's your CHOICES & STORY-TELLING ABILITY

"I have no time" is a VERY common discussion in this line of work. And it is certainly MUCH more prevalent in people's lifestyles than EVER before in my over twenty years in the industry. ALSO more so than ever, it's NOT the reality but rather a "symptom of your reality" from your CHOICES that you make each day, AND the STORIES your own mind are leading you to believe.

Let's put the point out there that what we'll be discussing here is talking about MOST days or the AVERAGE day for us every day folks. There will be days that come up that ARE absolutely VERY busy and we have to sacrifice some things. That's ok! That's life. The issue arises however, when "those days" become MOST of your days! When "the busy" consumes not just a day here and there, but weeks upon weeks, that lead into months and months of "the busy" that drags us and our health down.

Another point I'd like to make here is that, in my many years working with people from all walks of life, I can tell you that this common conversation and reasoning that people share with me for NOT caring for their health in some way, is NOT prejudice to any specific type of person...

• People who own their own business say they "have no time"

• People who work for large companies with high pressure jobs say they "have no time"

• People who are single adults and live on their own say they "have no time"

• People who have kids, spouse, full time employement etc say "have no time"

AND.... Retired people, who's kids are grown up, they no longer work, ALSO say they "have no time".

You're living in a fictional world - In your mind.

Everyone HAS time. Certainly there are responsibilities we have to take care of, that do take time, but we ALL HAVE TIME to care for our health and wellbeing. Our minds are VERY good story tellers, ya know! And it gets better as we practice it day in and day out. Within that skill of storytelling that we ALL possess, the mind OVER-generalizes as well. YES, we have several things to do today. But the more we tell ourselves "I have no time", the LESS we seek even small amounts of time to fit in our health. Which brings me to my next point when it comes to TIME. 👇

Perhaps your storytelling mind is ALSO telling you a story about the FUTURE. A habit that you haven't even done yet at all or done today, your mind is telling you "how long it'll take", maybe "how hard it will be", "how it will feel" etc. Yet ... you haven't even done a LITTLE BIT. And there is one of our means of changing the storyline...

Do LESS while still doing SOMETHING

Another way to completely change your "story" is to wrestle your EGO side, and just do SOMETHING that is a LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN NOTHING when it comes to the habit you want to change with your health. "A little bit" is actually A LOT more than NOTHING! Especially when the nothing carries into days, weeks, months and even years.

We love seeking perfection, fancy routines and elaborate health plans that will create magical changes in our life and how others perceive us. However for MOST of us that leads us to simply becoming better story tellers; That's right, the best selling novel "I have no time". You got it. 😉 Instead, ALLOW yourself to practice doing SOMETHING LESS!! You 100% have time for it! Little things, over TIME add up to BIG change. The bonus; They don't take as much TIME OR ENERGY from your busy day! Let me show you a few quick examples...

🧘If you meditate for just 1-min DAILY, you'll have meditated for 30min over the month. That's 3hrs over 6-months. That's 6hrs over the year.... Doesn't seem like much??

-I guarantee it's more than if you tried to do two 20min sessions a week and it only lasts a week or a few sessions...

-If you're currently NOT meditating but keep talking about meditating and TIME is one "reason" you're NOT, then why WOULDN'T you try adding 6hrs of meditation to your year in that case, in order to practice some?? That's 6hrs of DOING vs 0hrs and just talking about it.

🏋If you do 10 pushups DAILY, you'll do 300 pushups over the month.

That's just under 2000 pushups in half a year! ... Doesn't seem like much??

-I bet you 10 pushups is more than ZERO! And I certainly bet that if you tried to incorporate them into some elaborate and fancy program, you wouldn't even come close to 2000 pushups in that amount of time (and barely notice trying). 🤪

🥦 If you add just 3 servings of vegetables to your day (the size of your fist = 1 serving), you'll eat 90 servings of veggies per month, which is 360 servings over 6 months time.... Not much you say??

-But currently you're eating LESS THAN 3 servings of veggies per day... Some days NONE.

-360 servings of vegetables means MUCH MORE nutrient dense calories that you're taking in for your body over that period of time

I think you may be seeing the pattern here... am I right?

We have CHOICES.

TIME is perception and choice, along with the story we choose to listen to in your head. Combine EGO into that equation and you have what we'll call a "time disaster" at play, without question.

TIME in most of our days is NOT the issue...

• In 2023, adult Canadians spent an average of just over 5.5hrs PER DAY on their smartphone 😳

• In 2023, adult Canadians spent an average of nearly 6.5hrs on the internet (across any devices) 😳

• In 2024, fewer than 1/5 adults were meeting the recommended limits for sedentary behaviour 😳

• I've personally asked several clients over the years to track their social media usage alone which typically averages between 2-5hrs (for adults). And they are ALWAYS shocked to discover this statistic about themselves.

🖐STOP telling yourself "I don't have time"...

(That's NOT true for most people).

👍START telling yourself "I CHOOSE to spend my time doing 'x'" ...

(That is more REALISTIC to think and say to ourselves and others)

👍START changing your storyline by doing "just a little bit more" of whatever health habit you're aiming for.

👍 START practicing saying "NO" sometimes - which includes to YOURSELF and your habits.

(This doesn't even need to be extreme. For example; say "NO" to just ONE show or to just 15min on your smartphone, so you can do SOMETHING for your health and wellbeing...)

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This post discusses a lesser known way that coaching with a professional can help YOU discover ways you DO have time, so that YOU can be a PRIORITY in your daily routines. A coach can help YOU discover ideas and opportunities within your daily lifestyle. It begins with just a phone call or an email to start the discussion.