Keep Appointments With Yourself as You Would With Anyone Else

Time is the one thing we can never get more of. So why are we so quick to let it slip through our fingertips? As we should do with money, aware of how we spend it, we need to be careful where we spend time too, or else we will waste what we do have!

Too many times in our lives, we just give up the sacred scheduled time we have with ourselves.  We tend to look at things we need to do with or for ourselves as “movable”. This is because they aren’t necessarily “appointments”.  But, what if we valued the time we schedule with or for ourselves as we would a meeting with someone else? You would not cancel on a client, would you? You would not cancel on a boss, would you? Shoot, some of you would not cancel on a complete stranger, but yet are fast to cancel on yourself. We allow ourselves and our time to get pulled in one direction when we know we need to go in another. Grabbing lunch during the day for someone’s last-minute request when you really should (and want to be) be spending time elsewhere. Maybe the gym or a writing session with yourself. Saying yes to a request during that time you decided to go to the gym, read a book, or maybe just take a nap, is saying to yourself that you aren’t a priority to yourself.

The first thing, we suggest doing to protect your time is to schedule some time with yourself for yourself. Then keep that meeting with yourself, as you would with anyone else.  Block it off in your planner, on your Google calendar, wherever. No matter if it is a task that you feel is not as important as the one being requested. You will be amazed at people’s reactions when you say you are busy…they usually will offer you another time!

“Me” Time

They can meet later, they can chat tomorrow, or they can connect next week.

Here is my secret. Each week I sit down and do my LP spread before the week starts. Because of that, I know what time I have available. I then book the things I want to do. Things for me like finishing writing a new book or a new course are things that could ALWAYS get done later but I schedule when I am working on them. Then all of a sudden a great opportunity pops up for me (large speaking engagement or future client). Because I have taken the 20 min at the beginning of the week to schedule my week, I now have the power to schedule the meeting when I want and still keep my commitments to myself.

It does not matter how “busy” the other person seems or how important closing that deal may be, I have found that when I ask if we can talk another time, another day, or another week, because they are not scheduled that far in advance, they are almost always available to make it happen at another time.

People respect your time when you respect your time.

You have the power to make this happen in your life if you take the time to plan ahead and then keep the appointments you have scheduled with yourself as you would with anyone else.

Lets’ take back control by setting meetings with ourselves and keeping them as we would with anyone else!