Last week’s blog post, “Are you a Time Thriver or Time Survivor?” generated many responses, ranging from recognizing ourselves as one or the other type to wanting to learn more about the “how to.” Those primarily interested in tactics and strategies would be better served contacting a Time Management Coach. But if you are willing to dig deeper into your mindset and understand your unique beliefs around time and life and the more profound beliefs that are causing your experience of being a Time Survivor, I can help.

I used to believe that our most valuable resource is time. After all, it’s the one commodity no amount of money can buy. And the fact that no one knows just how much remains for each of us in our lifetime, makes it even more rare and valuable. But after years of coaching people of all ages, genders, and life circumstances, I believe there is something even more valuable than time alone. Our Time Mindset.

When you hear or read the word “detour,” what’s the primary emotion you experience Do you feel excited, optimistic, and energized? Or hesitant, doubtful, and cautious? I’m going to guess that for most of us, it’s the latter set of emotions.

I’m obsessed with Ease. Let me be clear. Here, I’m not talking about Easy. Easy is about doing less, taking shortcuts, and staying inside our comfort zone. Easy says, “I don’t want to do hard things.” Easy seeks pleasure at the cost of joy and borrows from your Future Self. Easy is what so many of us are in pursuit of. But the truth is what we are genuinely seeking is ease. Ease is a state of being. It’s an organizing life principle. It’s possible to experience ease even when we are navigating challenging circumstances. You see, easy and difficult cannot coexist simultaneously. But difficulty and ease can.

Growing our commitment muscle is arguably the most significant lever of success we have the power to enforce. Yet so many of us commit to an end goal at the cost of suffering through the journey.

If the process of achieving a goal feels like suffering rather than hard work, we might want to reconsider that goal.

My last blog delved into the profound meaning and value that commitment brings to our lives. We must first understand the distinction between doing hard things and suffering; only then can we address commitment.

A recurring question I’m asked is, “ Why and how do you run 50 miles?”

I’ve been thinking about commitment.

Why does commitment have to be such a zero-sum game? Or does it?

Regarding most behaviors, a little bit is better than nothing. The foundation of successful coaching is helping folks take one small step at a time. Small steps forward can be a powerful strategy for attaining seemingly daunting and impossible goals.

But when it comes to commitment, taking small steps doesn’t do the job.

Coaching is all about helping my clients get to “simple.” Let me explain. Albert Einstein explained the four ascending levels of cognitive prowess: Smart, Intelligent, Brilliant, and Genius. But do you know what Einstein, arguably the most intelligent human ever to grace this planet, considered an even higher level of intelligence than ‘Genius’? Simple.

The more years I collect, the less time and attention I give to arguing, convincing, and explaining. I love Benjamin Disraeli’s advice to “never explain, never complain.” People who have known me for decades have noticed this shift. But they think it’s because I’ve learned to manage my emotions. They’re not wrong, but that’s only a small part of why I’ve become quieter in middle age.

“My child needs to grow up!” Nope. Your child needs to wake up. This is my response to parents who confuse “growing up” with “waking up”. And I don’t mean they need to become “woke”! I mean waking up to life’s truths their well-meaning parents tend to (over)protect them from.

When was the last time you heard someone described as being “obsessed” or “intense” in a good way? Intense, obsessed, and extreme are all words that have become weapons. But none of the three is as weaponized as “extreme.”