‘I’m busy’ and other lame excuses losers make

The queue at Starbucks is such magical place. You never know who you’d meet or what you’ll hear…

The other day I overheard a conversation between two women:

Woman 1: ‘I want to learn to drive but I just don’t have the time! I go to work and then the gym and I want to spend time with my boyfriend… I just don’t think I can fit in more in my schedule’

Woman 2: ‘Listen, Laura, that’s a stupid excuse. You’ve got as many hours in the day as Beyonce’

You have as many hours in a day as Beyonce.? BEYONCE? No, you don’t!

The last time I checked, Bey didn’t have to cook, or clean, or do her own washing, or vacuum the floor, or go to the shop for milk, or go to the post office, or drive herself anywhere for that matter. She doesn’t have to do any of those mundane tasks that seem to consume our lives. She’s got an army of helpers who run around doing it all for her.

So in that respect, no, you don’t quite have as many hours in a day as Beyonce. But you do have as many hours as me. You’ve got the same 168 hours in a week as a single mother of 3 children, as many as the neighbour who works 2 jobs and goes to evening classes.

How you spend these 168 hours every week is a choice, and every day you prioritise your time around your choices.
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The truth is, we all have time but we choose to disguise our unwillingness to do things by telling ourselves and others that we’re simply too busy. Sometimes we do that without realising.

I’ve found a simple solution. Shift your focus!

In the words of Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow: ‘The problem is not the problem, the problem is your attitude towards the problem’. So, in this case, the problem is not the lack of time, but what your priorities are.

Here is a quick exercise write down all the things you want to do but don’t have time for. This could be anything, from spending more time with a friend you lost touch with, exercising, joining a pottery class, starting a business… anything.

Now write down your excuse for not doing what you want, but then next to it, write down a different version, highlighting how this task just isn’t a priority.

• ‘I don’t have time to go for lunch with Melissa’ becomes ‘Spending time with my friend is not a priority’
• ‘I don’t have time to go to the gym’ becomes ‘Being fit and looking and feeling good isn’t that important to me’
• ‘I don’t have time to go to the pottery class’ becomes ‘Doing something that I will certainly enjoy is not a priority’
• ‘I don’t have time to work on my own start up because I work full time’ becomes ‘Following my dreams and passions and achieving financial independence isn’t a priority’.

You can easily see how the sentiment and tone changed completely as you shift the focus. This isn’t exaggeration either.

The reality is, if you can’t find time for something, it’s simply because you don’t want to.

It’s all about what you want to do because if you someone offered you £10k if you were to exercise every day for an hour for 2 weeks, I’m pretty damn sure you would have found the time.

So drop the lame-ass excuses such as ‘I’ll get to it someday’ and ‘That might work for some people but I’m simply too busy’. If you want to do something, make sure you dedicate time to it.

Whether it’s spending time with your friend you haven’t seen in ages, go to a yoga class, make a start on that novel you’ve always wanted to write… Whatever it is that you want to do, do it. Pencil in an hour or two in your diary and give yourself the time necessary to grow. Invest in your well being, Invest in yourself.

Remember, how you choose to spend your 168 hours every week defines you and your priorities. Make every minute count.