“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
Steve Jobs
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
Charles M. Schulz
We often don’t realize how much time and energy we put into something or someone until much later, if we realize it all.
But if we were to do the math and observe where we give our time to, the hour’s stack up alarmingly quickly.
It’s interesting (and frustrating) how much of our time we put into everything BUT the things we feel called to do.
Steven Pressfield calls this The Resistance — a force that will stop at nothing to distract you from what’s most important.
At the end of the day, our time is finite.
And we spend a lot of it carelessly, or rather, unnoticeably, and give our time to nothing-burgers and ti the desires that other people have for us.
Now I’m not saying that the things you enjoy are worthless. By the very nature of enjoying it, it’s providing value to you (…to a point). If you enjoy cooking or putting away the dishes, then enjoy away! But if you don’t have the time to wash dirty dishes (… well first you might want to considered you’ve overbooked yourself with too many things, but secondly) by all means hire someone who does or trade it for something you do find valuable with your significant other (or roommate) who does enjoy it.
Not everything is worth our time and energy.
Helping a friend when they need your help or shoulder?
Worth it.
How about challenging yourself, developing new skills and honing what you’re good at?
Worth every dime and minute, through success or failure.
Putting in the time for yourself and your wellbeing? Going the extra mile for your significant other? Reaching out first to friends and family to keep the connections thriving? Giving your customers genuine respect and care?
Worth it every time.
(I’m going to stop there, this post is starting to sound like a Hallmark commercial —priceless.)
But worry about something we don’t have control over — like someone talking bad about us behind our backs, or an unfortunate misfortune, or the whims of the weather? Not worth the effort.
If someone doesn’t respect you or are just using you to get what they want, they aren’t worth your time anxiously thinking about.
If someone doesn’t like you because of who you are and what you stand for, then that’s their loss.
If you blunder from a stupid mistake, then do what you need to do to learn from it and move on.
Can I change this? Is this in my control?
Will this matter in a year? 5 years?
How long will this bring joy and value to my life?
Do I want to be hanging out with this person (these people) 3 years from now?
Is X (and worrying about X) worth my most valuable resource, time?
STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #776
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