I Do Not Have The Time

Today we are going to address one of the lies we tell ourselves. The most common of these lies is also one of the most detrimental to our continued development and well-being. That lie is “I don’t have the time.”

This is what we say anytime there is some activity that we know would be good for us but seems impossible or overwhelming, like reading, travel, spending time with friends, or any form of exercise.

To prove that this is a lie I will point you to two pieces of information. The first is the latest “Nielsen Total Audience Report.” I encourage you to download it and marvel at the 12 hours that the average American spends consuming media every single day including an average of six hours of television. The second is the Weekly Screen Time report on your smart phone. If you are anywhere close to average your number will be over four hours per day.

“I don’t have time” is a lie. We all choose how we spend our time, most of us just do not do this with a clear notion of our priorities. We have fallen into a media consumption rut that is crowding out the good stuff in life. Use that phone to call a friend or read a book. Twenty minutes a day might even get you abs.