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If you're like most high achievers, you might feel like you're always racing against the clock. You may even try to shape your goals around making more time for what you love.
It seems like a no-brainer that a key to mastering time, you need to decide what's most important to you. But here's something many overlook: the emotional connection to why that thing matters so much to you right now.
Caring for What Matters
When I'm coaching my clients or engaging with an audience, I always focus on 'why this is important' and tie it to an emotion. Our feelings drive our decisions, motivation, and actions - and we use logic to make sense of them. If you don't know why something is important, chances are, you won't look after it.
I can hear some of you saying, "But what about my job? I just do what I'm told and then go home." To that, I'd say your emotional 'why' is probably tied more to the paycheck than the actual tasks. And because of that, your work might be driven by your boss or the promise of a bonus, not a deep passion inside you.
The issue here is that many people don't love their jobs. In fact, most would rather be doing something else. This makes showing up to work a chore, causing stress and emotional burnout. On the flip side, when we feel connected to our work, things seem to flow better. We feel inspired and excited about our tasks instead of feeling forced or controlled.
What's Important Gets Taken Care Of
A lot of who we are comes from emotional scars of the past. As we grow up, we learn to protect these scars, trying to avoid getting hurt again. Life isn't perfect for anyone, and we all have our share of heartbreaks that lead us to subconsciously believing that we are unloved or unworthy. These become emotional wounds that we guard until we heal them. Surface solutions to these inner belief patterns might look like procrastination, avoiding certain situations, trying to control things, or even addictive/compulsive behaviours. All of these are signs we are taking care of what is emotionally important through trying to cope with these deeper internal challenges.
Mastering Time & Your Values
I believe that time is something we experience, but let's use the widely accepted belief that time is a resource for a moment. Just like money or effort, we spend our time to shape our life the way we want it. This reflects our values. For example, someone with a fit body values health, and you can see this in how they eat and exercise. Someone who likes gossip or reality TV probably values drama.
There's no right or wrong when it comes to personal values, but they do play a role in getting what you want out of life. When you connect emotionally with what's most important, you can choose values that line up with your life goals and create that reality with much greater ease.
Mastering time is about understanding your emotional connections and aligning them with your values. Knowing what's important to you isn't just a logical exercise; it's an emotional one. When we emotionally invest in our work and life goals, we are naturally more inclined to dedicate time and effort towards them. Conversely, when we feel disconnected from what we're doing, it can become a chore and drain our energy.
We recently dove deep into this topic during the 4-Week Elite Life Challenge. We crafted step-by-step actions on how to emotionally connect with your goals. This isn't just about reaching milestones - it's about creating more time in your life for what truly matters. If you’d love to out more, check out the full session here.