It’s easy to tell ourselves
If I only I had more time then I would (fill in the blank)
- Balance my checkbook
- Stretch my back
- Clean out the garage
- Floss my teeth
Today, we woke up with an extra hour in the bank (here in the US-daylight savings time change).
So what did you do with your extra hour?
I am guessing that you didn’t wake up and make a list of five of your least favorite things.
Of course you didn’t, I didn’t either.
Nor did I start building that open ocean kayak that I’ve dreamed about building in my garage.
I didn’t schedule three more podcast guests or read that book I keep intending to start.
If I’m honest with myself, having more time really isn’t the reason I don’t pursue my dreams or floss my teeth daily.
I prioritize what I love
I don’t enjoy flossing my teeth. I never have and yet I know full well that as the dentist preaches “Just floss the one’s you want to keep“.
Isn’t that a persuasive argument?
Today my teeth are all present and accounted for so I simply choose something else for the three minutes it would take me to battle gingivitis.
We prioritize the things, the people, the experiences that we love above the things we simply don’t want to do. We use the excuse that we lack time and therefore we appease and comfort ourselves for ignoring those peripheral priorities.
The root is deeper than lacking time.
How am I going to change?
I’ve found that it is unrealistic to say
“Starting tomorrow I’m going to start doing or stop doing (fill in your challenge) every single day“.
No I’m not.
When approaching change like this we obligate ourselves to a zero to 100% compliance overnight.
Most of the time, it just doesn’t work like that. For most people they start with a beginning, some small movement forward, then a bit of consistency over time and a lot of grace for when you fall off the wagon.
My encouragement to you this week is ask yourself,
Where am I using the lack of time
as the bogus reason that I cannot...?
Ok ready for the drum roll?
I cured my flossing aversion by putting the floss in the shower instead of at the sink. Yep, that’s all it took. Now when I take a shower, I pull out the floss dispenser and I knock out two things at once. Super Type-A I know.
That was all it took, to change the thirty-eight year trend of not flossing my teeth.
I moved it to a place in my daily routine where I couldn’t use my list of iron clad excuses.
Ridiculous I know, but it really taught me something about myself.
I learned that flossing was the peephole to places that I am stuck, resistant, reluctant, or indifferent to change.
Good luck on your list.
Keep going.
