Many of us want to create, to make, to do.

But we don’t have the time. Our lives are so packed, so busy, that we have no extra time available. It feels like there is no way we could possibly do anything else in our day.

It’s not true though. The one way all of us on this earth are equal is that we all get exactly the same amount of time in a day. 24 hours. 1,440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. Not a one of us gets more than that.

From those hours, those minutes, those seconds, we must create the time we need. We must remove useless things from our time and use the time we reclaim more wisely.

It may be simple things like watching less tv, or spending less time on our phones. It may be changing how we commute, train instead of car, so we can do something while we travel. Whatever it is we do we must use it to create time for the thing we want to do.

If we wish to create we must first create time.

If you’re thinking about something a lot, because you’re worried about it or excited about it, it’s what you’ll work on. Even if it’s not the most important thing. Even if it’s trivial.

When you get up in the morning you’ll work on that first. Because it’s on your mind. It’s what you’re thinking about, so it’s what you do. Even if other matters are more pressing.

When you get done with what was on your mind the day is mostly over. You’ve not started that important thing you should have been working on.

The only way to win is to work on the important. Either make it what’s on your mind or follow a routine so you work on the important things first.

You’ve got your head down, working hard on that big project. When you finish it you’ll have achieved a major goal. Right now, your entire life is directed at that goal, towards fulfilling it.

But you do realise you can’t just focus on that? You can’t neglect everything else. The emails, the accounts, the sales, the budgets, eating right, exercising, the list goes on and on. If you think you’re just doing it for a little while you’re only fooling yourself. Do you think that by achieving your goal you’ll suddenly have less to do? You won’t. You’ll probably have more. If you neglect everything else now you’re dooming yourself.

If you don’t look after emails you might miss out on that big break. Maybe that big break is a sale for your company. Maybe it’s a speaking opportunity. If you don’t look after your accounts you might end up in financial difficulties. If you stop eating right you might not have the energy to finish your project.

The trick is to focus enough on the big project to keep it moving but not so much that everything else goes off the rails. It’s difficult but worth it. It’s all about the goal, just not always.

The alarm goes off. You can get up or stay in bed.

Sure, you can give yourself ten more minutes but that ten minutes becomes another ten, and another ten. Before you know it an hour has passed, or more.

The other choice is to get up straight away. Don’t allow yourself to think about it, make it automatic, a reaction to the sound of the alarm. The alarm sounds, you get out of bed. Go straight into a routine – exercise, shower, brush teeth – whatever you need to do, whatever order works for you.

You can either put off the day for later or embrace it. It’s the same with life. Wake up, you have a choice to make.

It’s easy to work on the unimportant. It’s easy to work on the urgent. It’s easy to pass the time.

When will you work on your goals?

A day is a tricky thing. It goes by so fast if you let it. It slips past you when you’re not looking.

You have to grab it early to make the most of it.

You picked a goal and you’re pursuing it. Step after step, day after day, you’re getting there.

But, do you still want to? Is that goal still right for you?

Take some time to look at your goal with fresh eyes. If it’s still your goal, great. If not, that’s okay too. Better not to fool yourself.

If the goal is no longer what you really want, you need to decide if you should continue with it anyway. Maybe you’re close to the finish line and want to have a completed project to show for your time. Maybe you salvage the bits you want for the goal you really want to pursue. Maybe you complete it as it can be a stepping stone to the goal you really wish to pursue.

In a group you tend to conform. To not stick out too much. To try to be the same as everyone else.

We hesitate to see what others in the group will do. So we don’t have to make ourselves uncomfortable by being different. It’s the reason people don’t speak up when they see something wrong. That something might just be a typo on a screen during a presentation. That something could be the bullying of someone weaker.

The only thing we can do about this is to find the right group to conform to. Find a group that makes you brave, that’s makes you capable, that empowers you.

Over time we drift off course. At the beginning the drift is so small that we don’t notice. Left uncorrected, in time, the gap grows. First small, then large, then we can no longer the course we were on. To get back on course takes time. Days maybe, or years. Sometimes we drift much too far and give up on ever getting back on course.

Drift at your peril.

Wake up. You’re asleep at the wheel.

You’re eyes may be open but you’re not awake. You’re not watching where you’re going. You’re not steering. Wake up, you’re asleep at the wheel.

Life can be lived without your hands on the steering wheel. If that’s what you choose expect lots of crashes, lots of damage, and never to get on the right road.

Or you can steer. You need your hands on the wheel and you need to be awake. Look where you’re going. See the obstacles ahead. Choose the road you want to drive on. You can’t do that asleep.

You’re asleep at the wheel. Wake up.

Death and birth describe the same thing. That event you’re describing was either the start of something or the end of something. The only difference is perspective. The only difference is how you view it.

Your choice of description, death or birth, depends on how you see the event. If you see a good thing ending you see it die. If you see a good thing starting, you see it born. Death is not inherently evil, nor is birth inherently good. Both can be traumatic events or joyous. It simply depends on what that event is.

All events are both. Choose the perspective that helps you the most. Death or birth? Birth or death?