If I came to know that I just have one month of life remaining, what would I do? To whom would I dedicate the remaining time? Now in our modern age, in our hectic lifestyle, no human being pays much attention to such questions. I have actually lived such an experience—I realized it from the physicians who told me that surviving over a month for me was not possible. They told me about the extraction of seven of my organs.Try for an instant just to imagine yourself in your shoes—and then ask: where would I be spending my time?To your family. To yourself or your employer. To your kids.
The decision is yours. No other person will live your life for you, and with every passing moment not only is it over forever, but also, it is bringing you closer from birth to death. That's just the way of things. Something worth consideration, don't you agree?I don't have a precise answer in the way that I don't have separate seconds.
Are you investing your time in something nourishing or something draining?
And who other than you can make such change?
You're the unlimited being who makes day-to-day choices regarding where your time goes. Indeed, such is the nature of life – compelling us in some direction and into some commitment or role. But what if you begin to do things your way?
I know, right? Everybody always needs something from you. Your employer, your spouse, your family. Ask yourself, in your hearts of hearts,
Do I actually have what I desire?
Congratulations if your response is yes.
And if the answer is no, congratulations again—for the mere realization that something in your life doesn't feel right for you, that you do not yearn for it, or that it brings you excessive stress or misery is a giant step forward.
It is such an empowering realization because it opens the door for questioning: Is the time right for me to dismantle and rebuild something in myself?
Yes, I said that right—break down and rebuild.
Because just as you have brought about this situation within yourself, so too can you change it—if no longer desired.
Yes, that will be embarrassing.
It will hurt.
It may not appeal to everybody.
But at the end of the day…
You are the person I love the most.
You're on.
At the end of your life, on your deathbed, will be you alone, not all the people who told you what to do or how to live.
That is why becoming aware of such things is so crucial, being attuned to your soul and your highest self—are other human beings going to have anything positive to say about that?
Those are just external winds—they blow in and out.
We are affected by other individuals and surroundings.
How old are your parents?
When did you last have the opportunity to sit down with them?
Do you know how long they have remaining?
And what do they need to hear as they leave the world?
And do they know already?
Or are you procrastinating—"I will do it later, I’ll go visit them later, I’ll think about it later"?
You can try using that line.
You will have given your everything.
Or perhaps not?
The same principle holds for your family as well—but in reverse. Time is something that you sell for your employer.
You can’t get it back.
It is your option, from day to day, how much time is spent with whom.
How much of your time is spent just for yourself?
One of the things that I discuss with customers is time management and how to prioritize.
There are 7 days * 24 hours = 168 hours in a week.
If you sleep 8 hours every night, then that will be 56 hours of sleeping every week.
You have 112 hours available for everything else.
What will you do with that time?
How many hours do you spend working?
How about for yourself? How many in family? How will you distribute it in order for your life to have meaning? Great questions, incidentally, if you'd like to have a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle. Unless you ask yourself these kinds of questions, you can find yourself with a life that wasn't what you really desired. And the results of that? You most likely already know them yourself—either directly or through other observations. I'm thankful that I can assist my clients in discovering their own solutions—because it is their time and their life. If your blog made you consider this question of time, then I'm happy I could assist. If not, that's okay too—you don't necessarily have to agree with everything. The approach is to feel what actually works for you and what doesn't. With respect and gratitude You deserve in life exactly what I wish.
Jakub Karásek, MBA and LL.M.