5 Ways to Make Time for Your Passion

Before we are employees, parents, spouses and friends, we are individuals. Our gifts and talents, the ones we reveled in exploring as a child, are still as present as they ever were. They just lie dormant within us hoping for release. It is our obligation to make them a priority like we do our workouts, our careers and the people we love.
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As a life coach in New York City, the biggest objection I hear as to why people do not make time for their passions is, "I don't have time." The danger with repeating this as often as we do is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We think we do not have time and there for we don't. The good news is that we, in fact, do!

I saw a funny tweet the other day -- a picture of a mug that said, "Everyone has the same number of hours in a day as Beyoncé." Sure, I can already hear you say that Beyoncé has teams and help and so forth, but that is not the point here. We all have 24 hours in a day. When you evaluate exactly how you spend yours in an average week I assure you that you can carve out at least two to four hours for the most important thing you possess: your passion.

Before we are employees, parents, spouses and friends, we are individuals. Our gifts and talents, the ones we reveled in exploring as a child, are still as present as they ever were. They just lie dormant within us hoping for release. It is our obligation to make them a priority like we do our workouts, our careers and the people we love. Our passion is a gift to be treasured. Some of us are lucky enough to have jobs that allow us to live our passion -- I know a few -- a designer, a journalist and a medical professional.

A lot of us however, do not. These tips are particularly for the majority of us whose passions make a rare appearance in our frantic lives.

1.Get real about your time.
Look at an average week. How many hours do you spend at the bar, watching TV, drawn into the proverbial social media suck? Look at time methodically here -- if you just watch your favorite shows (two to three, maximum), only go to the social stuff you really care about and limit Facebook and Twitter to 10 minutes a day. How many hours have you saved? The answer is likely to surprise you.

2.Double up!
Say your passion is something artistic like pottery. Why not take a class with your friend or spouse? This counts as creative time and an awesome, different way to spend time with someone you love. A client of mine spends her Saturday mornings painting with her children as a local arts centre. This is cool parent-child bonding time and a fun artistic release for her!

3.Use your wait time wisely.
Commutes, waiting in line, any time you might be early for an engagement (or someone else is running late) all adds up time wise. I use times I need to be patient to write my blogs on my phone or iPad.

4.Say no.
No is one of my favorite words. If you are uncertain as to whether or not to attend something, chances are your time could best be spent doing something else. You don't need to explain yourself either. A simple, "Would love to -- but sorry, I can't" will suffice. Think of the hours saved!

5.Enjoy and honor the process.
This is all meant to be fun! Reconnecting with our passions can be our greatest source of joy. Approach making time for them with the right attitude and you will maximize the results and enjoyment of it all.

One of the greatest sayings about time is, don't prioritize your schedule, schedule your priorities! What is more important than connecting with your authentic self?

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