Putting A Time Limit On Who You Are?

Posted by Ben Lumley on Apr 19, 2010 in Success, Thinking Differently | 22 comments

Today's post is written by Jared Matthew Kessler. Jared writes for jaredmatthewkessler.com, simple unconventional insights (for you and your business). I'm thrilled to have such a talented writer like Jared here. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Time and time again, I see these self imposed time limits people put on things - and if a goal or dream doesn't happen during the time we set for it to happen... people just seem to be settling for a regular job. I'll be honest, though... this same thing happened to me. Not just with my book - but just about everything I've done. The thing is, I believe we need to change and evolve to a certain point. But changing yourself to the core just to "pay the bills?" C'mon that is ridiculous! So how do you keep pressing on and at the same time, keep true to yourself (even if things don't happen during the time you want it to)? *Lift yourself up, don't beat yourself up. Just a few weeks ago I saw a sign that says, "Overnight success is 20 years in the making." I thought, "Shit... I remember it saying 10 years. Who just added the extra 10?"

Read More

Time is not this giant, big, green monster that’s out to get you!

Posted by Ben Lumley on Feb 23, 2010 in Productivity, Thinking Differently | 42 comments

photo credit: Awaya-Legends

This is a guest post by Hulbert Lee. Hulbert enjoys writing about ways to help people go from the bottom of life to the top of life. Visit his blog at FromBottomUp.com.

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Albert Einstein

How often in our 24 hour day period do we spend timing ourselves on finishing a task that involves thinking? If you’re in high school, this might be taking a practice math SAT test in 1 hour. If you’re in college, this might be starting a 10-page political science paper that was assigned a month ago at 10:00 P.M., and suddenly it’s due at 8:00 in the morning. If you’re working as a freelancer, this might be writing 10 articles a day in 10 hours in order to pay a month’s worth of rent. We are encountered by time limits virtually everywhere we go. Some people don’t like that feeling of time’s presence being around them. In fact, I was one of those people. I was scared of time all the time. I remember that I used to be a really bad test taker because I was always worrying about the sound of the clock ticking down. Yes, I was also that obnoxious person in class that would always turn their head around to check the clock to see how much time was left. It was just always something in the back of my mind. Do you also find yourself to be a constant “clock checker”? Maybe these habits have developed from a fear of time – a fear that giving ourselves a time limit puts too much pressure on us to think clearly. Although this may feel like the case sometimes, conquering time doesn’t have to be so scary. But there are a couple of concepts you should know just in case.

Read More