Making up for lost time

If you missed out on anything in your younger years you might hold the belief that it’s too late to do the things you wished you’d done.

But what if you do them now, what if you make a conscious effort to make up for lost time?

Granted with age comes responsibility, so taking out a few months to go backpacking around Asia might not be feasible, if you now have a full time job and a mortgage to pay but maybe you could do it for a week or two instead.

Sometimes it seems as though once we reach a particular age we have to ‘settle down’ and certain things are no longer available to us. But that’s just you restricting yourself. Just because you didn’t get to have as much fun growing up as you’d have liked doesn’t mean it’s too late.

The goal of a routine

If you’re doing the same set of activities on a regularly basis over time it’ll become part of your routine.

It’ll be set into your subconscious to the point where you go from start to finish with little to no thought in between.

That saves you a lot of energy because you’re no longer having to think about what to do next.

Sometimes when we take a break and spend our time differently, the routine that was so ingrained in us falls away.

All of a sudden the thing you once did at the exact same time each day doesn’t get done at all or you end up doing it hours later than you usually would.

Once the break is over the old routine (if implemented well for a long enough period of time) will fall back into place, almost as though it never left, that’s the kind of result I aim for with the routines I implement into my life.

It’s almost like how people say you don’t forget how to ride a bike, except routines can be forgotten if you step away from them for long enough.

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In need of a push

Sometimes we put off the very thing that we know we need to do because we don’t feel ready.

We make excuses and say things like, I need more time, I’ll do it when xyz or even I don’t think it will go well. The list is endless.

At times, the truth is you’re not ready and you do need more time.

But other times, you’re in need of a push.

The only way you’ll do the thing you’ve been putting off is if someone forces you to.

Perhaps you’re someone that lives in a big city and you want to move away, change your lifestyle and slow down.

In order to do that you need to leave your job but you keep finding reasons why you can’t like needing to save X amount, work on one more big project or wait until things are less busy.

For that scenario the push would be being made redundant because maybe you’d never have left.

The push may initially seem like a catastrophic major life disaster but when you give it a little time you’ll always find that it was for the best

That may come in the form of you losing your job.

The perfect time to begin

It’s a new day, a new month, a new year and a new decade.

If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to begin, that time is now.

Start the blog, writing the book, writing songs, writing poetry, take that class, visit that new city, initiate plans with that person you met recently, start that podcast, share your photography or whatever it may be.

So, often we hold off from starting because we think that we’re not ready or we’re waiting for the right time.

But there is no right time, it’s a myth and you’ll always be able to find an excuse as to why you should put off that thing for just a little bit longer.

Maybe you don’t feel comfortable enough with how your voice sounds to start a podcast. But maybe if you just started the comfort would come with time. Plus most people don’t like the sound of their own voice when they hear it back, so you’re not alone.

The difference is they choose not to indulge in that feeling because they know that they have something worth sharing.

If you’ve been waiting for to start, start now.

Baseline Busy

I remember a time when I had one of those ‘What did you get up to at the weekend?’ conversation.

I reeled of a few things but overall I felt like I hadn’t gotten up to much.

However, to my surprise the person I was in conversation with thought that my weekend was actually a busy one.

At first I thought it was a little odd but the more I thought about it the more I realised that my ‘baseline’ is what some people would consider busy.

I work a 9-5, I study part-time, I have a daily blog and a lifestyle blog. That’s my life at a minimum which doesn’t include spending time with friends or family, attending events, reading, sewing and other hobbies.

I don’t always have a lot of free time but I make a conscious effort to do the things that are important to me, like this blog.

Work and play

They’re both important.

We live in a society where it’s not uncommon to find people almost competing about who works the hardest.

Working a 9to5.

Doing overtime.

Working a 9to5 then a passion project 5to9.

Staying in the office till late.

Being self employed and working 7 days a week.

Coming into the office at the weekend.

We hear about working hard all the time but we rarely hear about play. There’s emphasis on resting from the work. But I’m a big believer in work and play.

I don’t believe in working for the weekend as though those 2 days are your reward for slaving away for the 5 days prior.

My ideas on work and play aren’t about a work life balance but more about just enjoying life as a whole.

So yes, meet your deadlines, impress the clients and do great work but also enjoy it.

Getting more money for less work

If the service you offer doesn’t require you to be there in person then there’s a chance you can get more for doing less.

Take a coaching service for example.

Say you have 8 clients who all have a total of 4 one hour sessions a month costing £55.

That’s 32 hours a month earning £1760

But what if you batch your sessions and make them online with 2 groups of 4 but each session now lasts 1.5 hours and now costs £50

That’s 12 hours a month earning £1600

But now lets see one group of 8 with a weekly 2 hour session at £55.

That’s 8 hours a month earning £1760.

Imagine working a quarter of the time but earning the same amount, if not more.

It’s not about being money hungry but simply having an awareness that the amount you earn isn’t dependent on how much time you spend working.