On clocks and focus

Since I was young I've felt the weight of the clock ticking.  In my teens, I was concerned that awareness meant I would die young.  Now at almost 50, I know that it is simply awareness. We only have so many days.

What we focus on matters. The world offers an endless array of distractions to spend our time for us. There are "illusions of accomplishment." It takes discipline to see what's real and invest our minutes in it.

The thing is that when we do make those choices we get to keep the results.  While distraction spends our time without payback, spending time in relationships, learning, creating and discovery change us into the people we most want to be.

I am currently reading Jeff Sanders' book, The 5AM Miracle. Part of the magic of what Jeff has discovered is the value of investing time with intention.  He advocates getting up at 5am with a plan of how to spend the time to focus on our grandest dreams and goals. It is a formula for creating the life we want rather than the one that is handed to us when we live on autopilot.

I believe one of the most important decisions we make daily, is how we spend our time. It is a finite resource. One we can't afford to waste.  No one decides this for us. We choose. And those choices determine who we become.