Hey Reader,

I have to be honest, this past week I listened to an audiobook about time that completely changed how I see it.

All my life, I have been at war with time. I always felt I was behind, late, or that I didn't have enough time to do things. I had always seen time as this restrictive constraint that was against me.

Now, this is funny because the audiobook I've been listening to is called "Time is a Tool", by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson, and it talks about how you can use the future and that place where you want to arrive to start acting like that future version of yourself now.

It's based on the premise that big, 'impossible' goals alongside extreme, 'aggressive' deadlines (anything less than 3 years) to create the urgency and the positive pressure that we need to start making those big, uncomfortable changes in our lives in the present moment.

And though this audiobook talks about this concept, referring mostly to scaling businesses, I believe it's a framework and A way of seeing time that we can use in every area of our lives.

For example:

• For many years, I said that I wanted to run a full marathon 'someday', but because I never felt prepared enough, I kept registering for half-marathons instead. Last year, though, on my birthday in October, I finally committed to doing my first full marathon before the end of the year in December. Having a clear, aggressive deadline that felt really close created the urgency I needed to start training and to start running on most days, because I knew the race was coming up.
• Growing up, I would often say that I wanted to live outside of my home country, Venezuela, and get fluent in English. It wasn't until I decided to enroll in a 6-month English course while living in New York after graduating from university that I finally had the need and the pressure to get better at English, because I literally needed it to understand and be understood by others within the timeframe I was going to be there.
• Even now, I have just enrolled in a 90-day coaching program to become better at selling, and because this program has an aggressive deadline (90 days) with specific content, daily calls, goals, and milestones along the way, I'm already feeling the pressure to get going and hit the ground running to take the most advantage of this opportunity.

Whereas before I used to think time was a constraint, I have now started using this perspective that time is actually a tool, and if I want to create more and bigger things in my life, I need to start using this tool to create the urgency we often need to get us to act and get moving.

So, if you would like to start doing the same, and start using time instead of feeling like time is always passing you by, or that time is a constraint and an obstacle, here are a few simple things you can use to do this:

1.Identify all those goals, dreams, and all those areas of your life where you have been saying "someday" for a while.

• Someday, I will launch the project and start my own business.
• Someday, I will take better care of my health and lose the weight.
• Someday, I will put myself out there and start the YouTube channel.
• Someday, I will create my own product.
• Someday, I will start dating again.
• Someday, I will travel more and visit new places.
• Someday, I will move to that city/country that keeps calling me.

These "somedays" that we keep telling ourselves also often sound like: "I will do (X), when (Y) happens."

• I will travel the world, when I retire and have the time.
• I will start the business, when I have more money saved.
• I will take better care of my health, when the kids graduate and go to college.
• I will run the marathon, when things quiet down at work.

Make a list of all those things you want to do in your lifetime, but that you keep postponing and leaving for later or "someday".

Bonus: Organize them from the most important ones to the least.

2. Set an aggressive deadline for ONE of those "someday" goals.

When we make our actions and all those dreams and goals we want to experience, conditional on something else happening, or abstract in nature, saying someday we're going to do them, 9 out of 10 times, we don't do them at all.

Time keeps passing us by, and we never take any action to get closer to these experiences, these goals, and these dreams.

And the reason for this is simple.

They aren't URGENT enough. Because they don't have a specific deadline, or at least a deadline that feels close enough (3 years or less) to the present, that means you don't feel the need and the pressure to do it now, as opposed to later.

If we say "Someday we will do that thing", then that means that it can happen at any time, and therefore, that we have a lot of time to do it.

And as Parkinson's Law states, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

If you feel you have all the time in the world or that something will take a lot of time (notice all those big goals that we think can only take 10, 15, 20+ years, because they feel too big and too out of reach right now), then that's exactly the time it will take.

• Instead, set a deadline that feels too short or constraining.
• Start with 90-day sprints.
• Make the overall 3 years or less.
• Then, truly commit to this new timeline.

3. Don't attach your worth to this big, impossible goal or to making it within the aggressive deadline.

The idea behind this framework is to increase your urgency, so you start taking action now instead of 'later'.

But it's not to attach your value or worth to a specific outcome or timeline.

• The deadline is there to make you move.
• The big, future goal is there to make you act differently now (as opposed to in the future).

Use them as a tool. Not as constraints or as reasons to bash yourself.

Because no matter the results, I promise you will be closer to your goals than you were before. And that right there is the whole point.

The Next 90-Day Runaway

I already told you before about how I recently signed up for a 90-day intensive Coaching Program all about digital offers and selling online.

Though I have already gone through the onboarding and some of the content, the daily coaching calls start this coming week, aka tomorrow. I'm both excited and, honestly, a little nervous about how I'm going to make implementation and the calls work with my current schedule because I know it's a lot!

But as I told you before, I also knew I needed more pressure and more urgency (and a lot of support from people already doing this) to accomplish some of the things I've been thinking about for a while. And this program felt like the right choice for me and what I'm looking to accomplish right now.

So, if you've been considering doing something out of your comfort zone that feels like too much of a commitment or too scary because it's a big step, here are three simple takeaways that help me step forward and charge ahead:

Take more risks. Like a lot more.
​Not the stupid, do n't-think-about-the-consequences kind of risks, though. I'm talking about the kind of risks that you know will get you closer to that future version of you that you want to become. So, first, get extremely clear about the outcome you want. Then, ask yourself, "What risky, scary, or uncomfortable decision have I been avoiding?" "And how can I find the courage to take that decision right now?" A tip: take action towards a smaller version today.

Test more and fail faster than you think is possible.​
Don't spend weeks circling the same idea over and over. Stop waiting until something is "perfectly" ready or polished before you can try it, launch it, or do it. Overthinking and procrastination teach you to doubt yourself more and more. Instead, do more "messy", "imperfect", "good enough" things. This is not about quality either. It's about not overthinking the quality. Failure is data. Failing faster means learning what works faster, improving faster, and succeeding faster.

Investing in yourself is not the same as spending on yourself.​
This 90-day program was a high-ticket offer, which meant it was higher than what I wanted to pay and invest in right now. But it also felt right. It's focused exactly on the things I want to learn and do more of in the future. It's with people I admire in the field. And it includes a lot of support to learn alongside and get support from people who master the topic of selling online. Learn to discern what feels like an expense versus what feels like an investment in the future you want to create.

And as with most things in life, listen to your intuition and to that thing that is calling to you. If it feels right, it just may be.

P.S. And if this resonated with you, in my last episode of Confidence is Overrated, I break down what’s really happening when you feel “stuck”, and why it often has less to do with clarity and more to do with the decisions you’ve been avoiding. Watch here.​

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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