The Sense of Time (Part 2) - How to become the SENSE-a-tional YOU in your LIFE-TIME

Happy Saturday World !

Someone I knew twelve years ago said: "We can always make more money, we can never make more time"

Doesn't it feel like every TIME you think about what you want to accomplish, all that you choose and want somehow relates to having things? Material things? A lavish lifestyle? A six digit bank statement?

Then, the questions come naturally: What do I need to become in order to have this luxurious lifestyle and the shekels to make it all happen? Should I be a doctor? A lawyer? Own a business? Become an investor? The President of the United States? How much TIME do I spend in school? How much TIME do I kiss bottoms? How much TIME will it take for me to become the President?

It will take an entire lifetime... If these are the questions that are being asked !

While not everyone wants to make $100,000 a month, I would say it's safe to assume that most of us would love to make a minimum of $10,000 a month. So how many Benjamins is that per hour? Given the scenario of a full time job, where your career takes up forty hour of your TIME, an average of $65 per hour would equal to the above stated monthly salary. What trades and vocations would offer such a sweet sight in a bank account ?

Well, you can spend your TIME studying to become a 1. Business Operations Manager, 2. Financial Manager, 3. Lawyer (shocker), 4. Pharmacist, 5. Dentist, 6. President, 7. Shall I go on ?

Why don't we all become Presidents and rule this galaxy?

(Insert raised eyebrow)

I would like to start with a quote whose origin is thought to be unknown, while others attribute it to George Bernard Shaw:

 " Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about CREATING yourself "

Therefore, TIME is not given to finding oneself in particular, but rather to the art of creating yourself. When we fall into the thought process of finding oneself, we start with the assumption that we are lost and thus need to be brought back to whom we really are. The paradox then comes; whom are we meant to be brought to? What part of whom we are have we lost? Is our true self a hide-n-seek game where we tap into every possibility of whom we are and land on one that "fits"?

 On the other hand, when we think of creating oneself, the underlying message tends to lead us to fabrication of traits and skills that we are not given from birth, but are rather acquired. The tongue starts twisting when we explain to others that we had to overcome our fears and anxieties to be as confident as we are today. Or when we calculate the amount of TIME it took us to become a professional violinist, which according to Malcolm Gladwell is 10,000 hours of practice in any vocation until declared a professional.

 It is harder to accept the thought that we have the tools to create ourselves rather than spend our lives finding whom we really are (such nonsense the latter).

So, here is how to become the President of your own LIFE-TIME and make your daily living more SENSE-a-tional:

1. Create yourself word by word

Think about a place within your city that inspires you and awakens your creative side. Book an entire day to spend in that place with just a pen and a notebook. Bring nobody with you and place your phone on airplane mode, or better yet, let everyone know that you are unavailable for the entire day. If you are naturally artistic, take pens, pencils, markers in multiple colors and spread them in front of you so they are easily accessible. You will be focusing on two main areas: skills and persona. 

Spend the first half of your day thinking about nouns and adjectives that describe the skills you want to possess. For example, you may want to be a fast reader, write caligraphy, become a great baker, learn how to dance flamingo, learn how to french braid, become a coffee connaiseure, learn how to massage, sail a boat... Do not surf the web for "cool skills" or "ten million things to de before you turn 50" for this exercise is meant as a starting point to the amazing and SENSE-a-tional being you are about to become. Do not get overwhelmed with all skills one can possibly have, and think of those that YOU really want to have. The number is irrelevant at this time; as you grow older, wiser and more skilled, there will be many other skills to discover, want and acquire.

Spend the second half of your day thinking about your persona, which is the mark you want to leave on others portrayed by aspects of your character. If you were given ten seconds, the time it takes for people to from their first impressions, to show all that you are to a person you have never met before, what would you leave behind? How would that person describe you as being? Warm? Kind? Energetic? Reserved? Lively? Serious? Cheeky? What traits of your personality will linger with the person you have just met? If those ten seconds were the only TIME you'd have to leave your mark on somebody, what would that impressions be? 

It's a funny thing these days to think about your death, but allow your mind to wander for a few minutes and ask yourself: When I go, what have I created (my skills) and whom have I inspired (my persona)? Will people remember you as Bill, the dentist who fixed my mouth, or Bill the SENSE-a-tional dentist who has a passion for photography, makes everyone smile (and fixes everyone's smile too), gives big bear hugs, adores his dog and treats his friends like family? If I were Bill, I'd choose the latter, because we choose to create ourselves a certain way, and it is only us who decides what our biggest creation, a.k.a. ourselves, will look like.

2. Create yourself in 90 days

It would be wonderful if we could close our eyes, make a wish, and become an amazing baker. But unfortunately, it won't happen until we make it happen. Becoming more skillful requires patience and planning. If one of your desirable skills is, for example, learning how to knit, you should expect some trial and error as you go. Some skills will come easier while others will suit you like a glove, thus it is important that you pursue something you would really love doing- the process can get messy. It may be that with becoming a great baker you lose your patience with all the ingredients, and temperature, and amount of TIME the dough stays on the counter, then in the fridge - you get the point. Acquiring a skill is not easy, nor hard, it's a P.R.O.C.E.S.S.

Pick four skills you are eager to learn in your first year, and bring your family and friends along the journey. A good strategy is searching within your group of friends and finding those who have some experience with your desired skill. If, for example, your friend Mary has done tango before, ask her if she can practice with you once a week, then take a couple of dance lessons at a studio, and find studios or events where people gather to practice and dance tango. Practice this one skill every day for 90 days, for one hour or more. Focused learning, like such, is much more beneficial than scattered learning because your short term memory is refreshed every day, and in turn, it will lead to long term memories and behavioural changes a.k.a. you have learned the basics of tango and can now be a superstar at your friends' wedding reception. 

And how do you think these skills will make you feel? How will they affect your persona? 

You got it!

You will feel fresh, new, young at heart, vibrant, positive, eager for another day of your amazing life. You will stay in line to grab your coffee and talk about the amazing cupcakes you have made over the weekend, and how you never thought, in a million years, that you would bake anything. It may even get you a date ;)

Working on your persona is easier when your life is exactly the way you want it to be. Instead of allowing Mary Jane to ruin your lunch with her sad dating stories, you can change the topic and talk about how great of a tango dancer you have become. Or, you will have the courage to cook dinner for that amazing woman you have started seeing a couple of weeks ago. Better yet, you will find the confidence to leave the past as is and focus on the future, on the things that you want to learn and the SENSE-a-tional human you are becoming. If your persona building has words like: happy, fulfilled, traveler, charming, energetic, strong, bubbly, witty, daring, audacious, then you wish to be like the 99.9% of the world. If your 10 seconds of making a first impression is you talking about your tango performance in front of 200 people when you have never before in your life moved one foot on any rhythm, what would your presence linger as? Personne extraordinaire? You bet!

The point of the matter is, your T.I.M.E. is yours and only yours. Nobody can dictate what to do with it or how you should spend your life building your score credit and getting busy with everything that is irrelevant to you. 

Your career and title are important, but the most vivid image of whom you are lies within yourself. It is the YOU that is being created while living, not the YOU trying to find yourself. 

We are never lost! 

We are always created!

Tricky thing this S.E.N.S.E. O.F. T.I.M.E. in your own LIFE-TIME, isn't it?

oxx,
Andrina

P.S. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series. I will share some more hand on tips to tackle every day chores and things we must do, but are not fond of... like laundry...