By Lynn Scheurell

Time is something that we tend to take for granted, even as we measure it in minutes and watch all the important things on our ‘to do’ lists wait for attention. But the reality is that, while time is the measure of life, it is also the one thing you can never get back.

You can reclaim your health, make more money, find new friends, re-establish old relationships… but time marches forward to exhaust the calendar you came in with as each moment passes.

Knowing that, take some time to reflect on who you are and what you’re here to do. The truth of that can change everything because, when you claim that, you will need to act on it or commit an act of self-betrayal.

There are reasons why people are unconscious about the passing of time – here are four of them that you will likely recognize:

1) Knowing your North star. The earth rotates and every star we can see moves with it – except the one at the North Pole and the one at the South Pole (called Polaris and the Southern Cross). Sailors have navigated by those stars through dangerous weather and unknown territory for centuries. As an entrepreneur who believes in serving your clients through your gifts, talents and expertise, you must have a fixed point of reference for yourself – your North star.

When you really GET your North star and follow it above all else, you have purpose, focus and direction. And time becomes your most precious ally in seeing your purpose come forward through your business.

2) Valuing yourself. If you don’t your intrinsic value, you won’t value your time. If you don’t know how to package your value for others, they won’t spend their time (or money) in working with you. It’s just that simple.

When you value yourself, you value your time and spend it in positive ways. You will not allow others to spend it for you, nor will you assume that others will see your value first. You must value yourself enough to protect how you spend the calendar you came in with for this physical lifetime.

3) Taking the easy way. By nature, we look for the easiest way to get something done. Sometimes it’s an issue of entitlement (“I deserve it…!”) and sometimes it is more efficient to use a calculator than to do long-hand calculations.

However, if faced with making a decision between building someone else’s dream by having a job and doing the rigorous work to build your own business, you will have to know what you value more – a certain, finite paycheck where someone else determines your standard of living or fluid cash flow that can build an unlimited future.

To be clear, I’m not saying quit your job if you have one! What I am saying is that you cannot allow yourself to be lulled into complacency with the golden handcuffs created by the perception of easy street. Years WILL pass… and what will you have at the end of them if you skate unconsciously through them?

4) Believing that the ‘urgent’ stuff is all you can handle. The urgent will always claim precedence over the important, meaning that you have to get to the doctor, do the laundry, make dinner and writing your book, creating your new product or learning a new skill can wait a little longer. But when you are living your life with the urgencies dictating where you spend your time, the important things (and your life) are quietly sliding away.

To the degree that you balance living the urgencies with accomplishing the important is to the degree you will experience satisfaction and create fresh results over time.

Essentially, time is the currency of your life. When you are wasting time, you are throwing away something precious. If you are scattered, unfocused, wandering in confusion or unhappy, the key is to acknowledge that and feel into the deeper meaning of your life. How are you spending your time coin?

To get you started in evaluating your relationship with time, here are some key questions to ask yourself.

• When you reflect on your day, are there accomplishments that you can be proud of and share with others as an interesting highlight? If you can’t think of something worthy to share, you’re focusing only on the mundane and the urgencies.
• Are you typically in flow with your day or frustrated, anxious or bored? If the latter, what are the triggers that create the negative emotional states for you? And what action can you take to minimize or eliminate them for the future?
• Do you feel productive, focused and clear as you move through your day? If not, what gets in the way? Is there a pattern to what blocks or stops your productivity?
• Are you making a discernible difference with your effort and initiative? Can you see there is progress toward your goals? If not, try establishing benchmarks that you can reach to affirm you have momentum.
• Do you have a big dream that pulls you forward daily? Is it exciting enough to propel you out of bed in the morning? Do you think about it and desire it and let it compel you into your next best level? Is it big enough to melt obstacles, show you where to focus and dismiss the small stuff that could chew up your time and energy?

The real teaching here is to understand the calendar of your life does have a final page to it at some future point – it is inevitable. Your responsibility is to make sure you honor the calendar you came in with – the coin of your life – your TIME – with conscious discernment in every moment so you can celebrate a great life and have no regrets (and no unfinished ‘to do’ lists!) when your time is up.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on time and how you are choosing to spend yours below… ;=)

© 2013 Lynn M. Scheurell

#####

Making the most of human nature since 1998, Lynn M. Scheurell is an authority for high-potential entrepreneurs who desire to create intentional business success by connecting the dots between inner and outer beliefs and business expression. Changing the world starts by understanding your motivations, inspirations and purpose; in other words, changing the world starts within you. Only then can you apply your intensity through strategic business models, systems and focused action to create conscious, and often dramatic, results. See www.MyCreativeCatalyst.com