“I don’t have enough time” was a client’s mantra for a very long time.
On the surface, it was tempting to agree with him.
There’s a side-business where he invests several hours of nearly daily training and research before making decisions on actions to be taken.
Later in the day, he starts his high-level and demanding, Monday – Friday, day job for 10-11 hours each day. This can spill over into weekends for special projects.
Because of past health conditions, it’s essential that he exercises and pays attention to eating well and sleep.
After these long hours, he returns home late to family and household responsibilities.
Maybe you can relate to his busyness in your own way.
As he discovered, there was far more to his lack of time than appearances would suggest.
Unbeknownst to him, it wasn’t his schedule that caused his stress, but the guidance coming from his ego.
Wayne Dyer expressed it well: “The ego is only an illusion, but a very influential one. Letting the ego-illusion become your identity can prevent you from knowing your true self. Ego, the false idea of believing that you are what you have or what you do, is a backwards way of assessing and living life.”
How he set himself up for stress
While discussing his strategy on how he approached tasks, he said that he feels the strong need to jump from one to another in order to keep up with them. He also has an underlying feeling that if he lines up tasks and plans them out, they’d seem too predictable and boring.
Ironically, it’s this strategy that creates predictable and boring outcomes: not enough time, the pressure of a deadline looming over him and stress.
Furthermore, when he completed his tasks under duress, he then had justification, in his mild-mannered way, to drop hints to others about how hard he worked… to get their validation and approval.
His ego loves an audience. By the way, this is a common trait of the ego – whine, albeit subtle and with proven evidence, to get attention and sympathy – even if it’s just your own! Ever feel sorry for yourself?
After reading this, so he could include his comments before posting, he added the following insights:
“I learned as a child that I’d receive attention if I was very upset or sick from headaches. For me, pressure leads to stress, headaches or some physical issue. I learned to keep the pressure off by keeping expectations low. Then, I’d surprise them with a good result. It is all related.”
As an adult, stress still garnered him attention. Others could see him as a martyr for working hard.
One more pay-off. The stress of not enough time created an adrenalin rush.
In other words, he became addicted to the drama that stress created because the adrenalin rush was like a drug.
An alternative
Recently, a top supervisor asked him to complete a detailed project.
At first, he didn’t enjoy it. Then, he got into it and “was in the flow” of getting it done.
A co-worker just happened to call.
When his colleague learned about the project, he made a recommendation that saved my client lots of time and allowed him to meet his deadline much faster and easier.
Here are his discoveries about his relationship with time:
- Even though initially he thought the opposite, jumping from one project to another was predictable and created boring results. It usually caused stress with a hope of getting praise for his valiant efforts.
- Instead, when he was in the flow while doing projects, miracles unpredictably happened, like someone calling for an unrelated reason and providing solutions.
- By being in the flow, rather than motivated by stress, he actually saved time because he was open to receive unexpected, better and more time-effective solutions.
- In the past, he strongly held the belief that the only way he wanted to take action was if he felt fear or worry. Now, he realizes his self-created drama fed a stress addiction, which according to the American Institute of Stress, can be as addictive as drugs.
If you find yourself stressed for success with never enough time, what’s your emotional pay off?
Release this pattern, and you open the way to greater abundance – in business, money, relationships and a satisfying life.
Start releasing patterns through awareness
- Notice when the mind chatter begins, and you want to react the same way you usually do.
- Instead of dutifully listening to and following your ego’s guidance as if it’s the authority on your life, begin to recognize your old habits when they arise.
- Know you have a choice – blindly follow the ego like you’ve done in the past or consciously choose to take more empowering action.
- Choose to be in the flow instead of defending your limited thinking.
- Create a new story about time. Change your affirmation from “I don’t have enough time” to “I have plenty of time.”
When you cast light on shadows, the shadows disappear.
What do you have to lose? If the other way isn’t helping you, why not try something that might?
With gratitude,
Virginia
P.S. Know someone who might enjoy reading this? Please forward.
I work with people, at any age, who choose to share their gifts or business in a BIGGER way but don’t know how, feel stuck or would benefit from new tools or support.
I help them be richly compensated doing what they love by aligning with their Soul’s goals.
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