Life Isn't About Speed or Time but Rather This

The Western world culture that I've grown so accustomed to was the culture of speed.

We are constantly moving, expecting quick results, and are finding ways to maximize our time or productivity.

I feel this culture the most in the entrepreneurial world today. Where people suggest we entrepreneurs should...

• Sleep less despite that being dangerous to your health, and productivity.
• Work longer hours despite that affecting your health and productivity.
• Be young that way we can maximize our wealth and have time to enjoy it. This suggests to give up your ideas and dreams when you're older, wiser, and more mature.

There are all kinds of notions that don't make sense to me, but there is always a sense of time.

I can understand why that's the case. We only have so much time in our day and in our lives and it's important for us to make the most of it.

But I find that way of thinking to be dangerous as it creates a slippery slope to be on. Similar to those ideas I presented above and how they can impact your life.

Though with time, we often lose something bigger. We begin to lose ourselves.

How?

We spend so much time managing our time, planning out a schedule and coming up with all kinds of hacks that we forget our time is valuable.

We get wrapped up in the bigger picture that we don't pay attention to the smaller details. The curve balls life throws at us that messes our schedule up.

We see this time and again in the self-improvement world. So many people focus on their business or health they forget the other things that make them human. Connecting with people, making other connections with people.

Maximizing our time follows the same idea. If we try to make the most of our time, we will neglect other areas of our lives naturally.

I'm all too familiar with it as I spend so much time in my room working. It's gotten to the point now where I've told myself to get out of my room and do something else at least once per day.

What's important here is the fact that I'm getting myself to do that.

To do something other than work or maximize my time.

And that's the lesson here. Because while our time is precious, we will not be able to leverage it fully. There will always be something we could've done more of.

Or something we wish we devoted more time to.

Instead of getting hung up about that, what I suggest we all do is to remove these ideas that we need to make the most of our time. Instead, I believe it's important to tap into ourselves and ask a simple question:

What did you do yesterday?

Whether it's on a holiday or on a work day, take some time to ask yourself what did you do yesterday. Identify with yourself some of the biggest points in your life.

Reflect on a week or even a month and think about the most notable things. The good news that you can share with other people.

And there definitely is some in there.

But it's worth reflecting on other aspects about that good news.

Where is most of that good news coming from?

Asking that question makes the news deeper to you because it raises a theme.

Going back to myself, I often reflect on the week and what notable things have happened in my life. For sure there is a lot of business related stuff, but I notice a significant difference in my mood whenever I squeeze in time spent out of my room.

I went for a few walks or I biked into town. I did work in a coffee shop or went out for lunch or supper with some friends.

All the events that we recall form our highlight reel for our lives and sadly for most people, they tend to have the same highlight reel.

Ironically, it's those people who are so obsessed with time and trying to manage it.

And it's to those type of people I ask:

Have you made the most of your time? Truly?

Do you have a sense of satisfaction by "maximizing" your time and spending it that way?

I find it hard for people to say yes to that since I know some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world suffer from mental issues that leave them unhappy. This is despite making the most of their time.

What I'm getting at is despite our best efforts to make the most of our time, we won't...

And instead of trying for that, look for a deeper purpose.

Ask yourself those questions and see if you are satisfied with the way your life is going and if it's a good rhythm. Toss away the idea you need to maximize your time because it won't happen.

There will always be events or people that will ruin that balance.

Instead, look at your highlights and ask yourself if you're happy with those turn of events.

But more importantly, ask yourself:

If you got to relive that week and experience the same things all over again, would you be happy with what you did?