#54: Why You Need To Treat Your Time Like The Queen Of England
If the Queen of England invited you over for a spot of tea, would you flake on her? Would you show up 20 minutes late? Would you ask her to reschedule because a cool party came up?
If you want consistent, strong results in your career, you need to be consistent and strong with the time you put towards that career.
Here are questions to ask yourself to see if you're treating your time with utmost respect:
1. Do you put your "goal-time" in your calendar?
When you decide to spend time working on your goal, put it in your calendar. It may sound silly, but it should be a priority in your life, and when you put it in your calendar, you don't let other social engagements push it aside.
When you push your goal-time aside once, you'll do it again and again, and pretty soon it becomes a habit. When it becomes a habit, you're no longer making your dream a priority. And when you don't make your dream a priority, your dream just doesn't happen.
2. Are you saying "yes" to too many things?
I know it's difficult to say "no" to creative projects when we are creative human beings. We are always itching to create and feel productive. But when these creative projects come along, you have to get super honest with yourself and ask, "Does this contribute to my dream, or contaminate my dream? -- Does this new project get you closer to your dream goal? Or does it take you away from it, pushing it farther away?
3. Are you putting a deadline on your goal?
There is a difference between a "deadline" and a "timeline". A deadline says, "By Wednesday, July 27th, I will have a new manager representing me."
A timeline says, "If I don't become a working actor by 2018, I'll move back home and go after a different career."
When you put a timeline on your goal, you are essentially giving up from the get-go. When you put a deadline on your goal, it lights a fire under your ass to make it happen as quickly as possible; it gives you something to work towards.