Hello, I am Coach Tony… Welcome to Operation Melt!
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Ask Me Anything…
In Ask Coach Tony, you can put my Operation Melt coaching to the test by asking me questions about how to achieve your goals.
Because a question asked by one is often a question had by many, I am regularly sharing these answers via the Operation Melt blog.
Amuse Bouche
Before we get to today’s post, I offer you this light “amuse-bouche” to entertain your mind before we get down to business. Like any other amuse-bouche, you may hate my “dad joke,” but it is worth every penny you paid for it, right?
Have you listened to the new Where’s Waldo? audiobook? Here is an excerpt from my favorite part. Not Waldo, not Waldo, not Waldo, not Waldo, not Waldo, Waldo, not Waldo, not Waldo.
Ask Coach Tony: Am I Too Busy For My Goals?
Coach Tony: I have a busy life… a VERY busy life! Between my demanding job, family and other commitments, I feel like I never have a free minute. I have several goals I want to achieve, starting with losing a few extra pounds I have put on, but I am feeling discouraged. With my busy life, how can I fit my goals into my schedule? Am I too busy for my goals?
This is a very common question asked by people who want something more from their life but feel stuck. They feel stuck because they are always so “busy.” So, the good news (or maybe bad news?) is that you are not alone.
Study after study has shown that Americans feel like they are too busy. One survey revealed that 61% of working Americans said they didn’t have enough time to do the things they wanted to do. But, perhaps surprisingly, these studies also reveal that we aren’t really as busy as we think. Many of us have simply been conditioned to say we are busy as we have subconsciously associated levels of “busy” with social status.
You almost certainly aren’t too busy for your goals; you just need to make a few basic adjustments to unlock them.
Change Your Story
As odd as it may sound, the first step to fitting your goal into your busy schedule is all about your language; you have to change your story.
In The brain’s owners manual should include 1 important warning, I talked a bit about how your brain works. I explained, “your brain is always listening to what you are saying too. Not only is your brain listening to you, but it also believes what you are saying.” Asking your brain a question sets it in motion with a command, and it will keep working on answering that question without your knowledge.
This question is another case of needing to take a bit more proactive approach to manage your brain. Here’s what I mean…
Asking a question like “am I too busy for my goals,” tells your brain that you think this might be true. Your brain will take that question as a command and continue subconsciously looking for ways that this is true. You will devote a ton of background processing to confirming that you can’t reach your goals.
If you change the story a bit and ask yourself the question differently, you can enlist your brain as an ally instead of a saboteur. For example, if you change your question to “how can I fit my goals into my busy schedule,” your brain hears this differently. It hears it as you knowing that you can do it and just need to figure out the how.
Believing that you can achieve your goals is the first step to doing it.
You can do it. As I explained in What Would Beyonce Do?, you have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyonce (or Einstein, Michelangelo, etc.). Don’t underestimate what you can accomplish because, as Henry Ford said, “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
Granted, it might be a little more challenging to fit everything in, but you can definitely do it, and I’ll share a few strategies to help. Most importantly, believe in yourself and find the plan that works for you. As I wrote in, It Can Work if You Do, “I firmly believe that people significantly increase their risk of failure with any goal (or any project) by approaching it with some grand plan that only works on paper. If your plan isn’t realistic for the true circumstances of your life, it simply won’t work.”
Ok, that’s a lot of words for this portion of the answer, but believing in yourself is an essential first step to getting your brain to work for you.
Your Gameplan for Conquering Busy
In 6 steps to never saying “I’m too busy” again, I shared 6 practical strategies to take control of your time so you can achieve your goals. I will share a quick summary of the strategies, though I won’t repeat that whole post here. I do recommend reading the whole post.
- Change your language: similar to believing that you can achieve your goals, it is also important to change your language about being busy. Instead of saying, “I’m too busy for that,” pivot your language and start saying, “that’s not a priority for me now.”
- Know where your time is going: do you believe you are busy? Prove it! Find the facts about where you are spending your time by tracking your time for a while. The truth about how you spend your time may just surprise you.
- Decide your priorities: if you are going to start saying, “that’s not a priority for me,” you are going to need to know what things are a priority for you. This starts with setting some goals, so you can focus your time. Need a little help? Grab a copy of my free eBook Goal Success Quick Start Guide.
- Identify problem areas: once you know your priorities and where your time is going, you can ask yourself an important question: are you spending your time in a way that supports your priorities? If not, it is time to make some changes to how you spend your time.
- Schedule time: when is the last time you skipped showing up for something on your calendar? It’s time to put yourself on your calendar so you can show up for you. Schedule appointments on your calendar for working on your goals, and always keep those appointments. You are worth your time!
- Progress reporting: the difference between success and failure often boils down to accountability. Taking steps to hold yourself accountable for your commitment to your goal will help give you that push you need to keep moving. One easy way to get started with accountability is progress reporting. This can just be a daily progress report you prepare for yourself, or you can share it with an accountability partner.
These 6 strategies will help you break free from “busy” so you can achieve your goals. But, these strategies don’t guarantee smooth sailing, and you will encounter setbacks along the way. These setbacks are just part of the process and a sign you are making progress. When you encounter a bump in the road, just say F It! Read more in Doing The Right Things Delivered Wrong Results… “F” it!
Final Thought
You are NOT too busy to pursue your goals.
You have the power to make your dreams come true, but it will require some deliberate steps to help you balance it all. The first step is to change the story you are telling yourself and believe it is possible to achieve your goal. Once you know that you can be successful, try practicing my 6 strategies to purge “too busy” from your life. But don’t expect completely smooth sailing, you’re going to hit some snags, and that’s ok; you can get past them.
Finally, remember that you don’t have to go it alone; your success can be a team effort. Surrounding yourself with partners to help you stay accountable and experts to help you fill in your expertise gaps will help fortify your journey.
Another excellent resource to help you reach your goal is coaching. Operation Melt coaching services will help you get into the right mindset, figure out your goals, build a plan that works for you and support you during your journey.
Ask Me Anything!
Do you have a question you would like to submit for a future Ask Coach Tony post?
- Do you want to know more about me?
- Do you want to know more about my weight loss journey?
- Do you want to know more about my books or my creative process?
- Do you have a question about how to achieve your goals?
- Do you want to know more about coaching?
Whatever your question, I am here to help. Ask Me Anything!
If you want to have a deeper conversation and get more one-on-one help, click here to learn more about my Operation Melt coaching services.
Beware of the Robots!
Was this post helpful or interesting to you? Do you want to read more? Don’t trust it to the social media algorithms.
Defeat the robots by joining my email list below and get these posts delivered directly to your inbox every week.
