You’re busy, you’ve got a business to run or a job to go to every day. You leave in the morning and come back after dark. You want more time with the kids but just don’t know how. Your plate is full, right? But what if I told you it’s possible to have it all, that you can have the money and the time? As I’ve said before, why settle for one color when you can have the rainbow?
Make quality time for your family every day. Not every once in a while, every day.
I remember when Elena and I had our first baby. I was like, OK what am I going to do to make quality time here? I had my schedule. I had been working this routine out for over 10 years. Now, all of a sudden, I had this baby and had to figure out some time for this kid.
I am not talking about my wife now, and I am not talking about my business. I am talking about this new little infant who was born. So I am like, OK, what do I have to do? Oh, I know what I am going to do. I am going to get up an hour earlier than I normally would. I am going to work it out with her routine, so I am going to have quality time with that little girl when she gets up.
We had another little girl three years later. Now I had to figure this out with her. You’ve got to figure it out and that’s why I am telling you: don’t manage time, control time. Get it all done — not just pieces and parts of it.
I know too many people who have money, but no quality life with their family. I know people who have a lot of quality time with their family, but they don’t have the money. You don’t want that. You want it all, right?
Decide to make quality time for your family every day, for all the different individuals in that family. Maybe for you it includes a mom, a dad, and siblings. I’ve got to literally put it on my calendar. When am I going to call my sister, my twin brother? Because if I don’t have it on my calendar — if I haven’t made a commitment to make quality time for my family and extended family — it won’t happen.
If I can’t do that for them, then I guarantee you, it is going to fall off with my clients, my customers, my dreams and myself.
Put your family on your schedule every day, because trust me, and I know a lot about this, there’s going to be a day when you can’t share quality time with some of your family members.
One way I optimize time with my wife is to spend time together while building our business. For example, we typically don’t go out to dinner, just the two of us. Instead, we invite employees or customers to join us, so we optimize that time too. I don’t see a point in spending money on a nice dinner for just the two of us. I’d rather spend four times the amount on a dinner that will produce more opportunities for us and our business. And honestly, a date night once or twice a week won’t build a strong marriage. We have a strong marriage because we’re on the same page 100 percent of the time, including how we view time.
We work the clock.
I love expensive watches, but I rarely ever set the timer on them. You know why? It’s because I don’t care what time it is. I need to take whatever time I have right now and condense as much activity as I can into that moment.
I’m not looking at managing an hour; I am looking at eating minutes and seconds. I want to control my 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week. I want to be in control of it. I want you to just start thinking in 15-minute blocks now, today. I got a 15-minute block. Do I want to manage those 15 minutes or do I want to control how much I can get done in 15 minutes? See the difference here? I don’t want to manage it. I want to control it.
Make time, not excuses. Because telling yourself that you don’t have time is the biggest excuse you tell yourself. Schedule your day. Get done what needs to get done at the office, but also schedule time with your family. Get as much done at the office in 15 minute blocks as you possibly can.
I’m living proof that both can be done. The only question is, how committed are you?
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