The question that stopped me in my tracks

Happy Tuesday Friend,

Do you ever feel like there just isn’t enough time in your day?

This afternoon I was interviewed for a podcast, and the interviewer started by saying something like, “Wow, I’m so glad I was finally able to get on your schedule. It wasn’t easy.”

I’m not gonna lie, it was a little awkward.

She wasn’t wrong though.

The truth is that I’m incredibly protective of my work hours. I have to be because otherwise there would be no possible way to get it all done.

And that means that I say “no” way more often than I say “yes.”

It’s not always easy.

Sometimes I hurt people’s feelings or offend them. Sometimes I have to pass up opportunities that actually do sound really fun or exciting. Sometimes I make the wrong choice and I regret it later.

But time is literally the most precious resource that we have.

And even though I thought I had a pretty good system for managing my time, a few months ago I realized that I had slipped into some bad patterns.

It was after I attended that conference—the one I told you about last week.

One of the speakers was a guy named Ben Hardy, the author of 10x is Easier than 2x, and he spoke about what it actually means to 10x your life.

He explained that most of the time, we try to achieve incremental growth, and what that really means is just continuing to do the same things only better. But 10x growth is different. 10x growth requires you to change almost everything.

In his book, he writes, “2x is exhausting and soul-defeating. It’s extremely difficult to put the pedal to the metal and grind away for inches of progress. By contrast, 10x is so big and seemingly impossible that it immediately forces you out of your current mindset and approach. You can’t work 10x longer or harder. Brute force and linear methods won’t get you to 10x.”

He goes on to explain that with 2x growth, 80% of your time is typically spent on existing priorities, while you might dedicate 20% of your time to new stuff. But with 10x growth, you have to flip that and dedicate only 20% of your time to existing priorities, while 80% of your energy is devoted to those new 10x goals.

And then he threw out the question that stopped me in my tracks:

What would happen if you immediately eliminated the bottom 80%?

It’s kind of a scary thought, right?

But I realized that he was right.

And three months later, I don’t know if I’ve managed to let the full 80% go quite yet, but I’m well on my way.

Not only that but immediately after reading that book, I implemented a simple change into my schedule that has been an absolute game changer.

Focus days.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I block out the entire day to just work on my big goals and most important projects—no phone calls. No slack. No meetings. No coaching sessions. No email. No distractions.

Do you know how much you can get done when you have an entire day to just focus?

It’s a lot. 

It’s unlocked a level of creativity and momentum that I haven’t had for a very long time, and it’s pretty insane.

So why am I telling you this? Two reasons:

1. When was the last time you gave yourself an ENTIRE DAY to focus on one big goal or project that is important to you? What would happen if you did? And what do you think would happen if you did it regularly? 

2. Time is a precious resource—the most precious resource that we have. Every time you choose one thing, you are not choosing something else. When was the last time you stopped to look at how you spend your time, and what that says about your choices?

Thomas Edison once said, “Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.”  Along those same lines, Charles Buxton said, “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”

In other words? How you use your time today will ultimately determine your tomorrow.

And so, my challenge for you this week is to actually carve out a focus day for something big in your life, something that you really want to do, maybe even something you’ve been avoiding.

Make the time. 

And then see what happens next.

Live with purpose, friend, and have an amazing week.

xoxo, Ruth

P.S. I’d love to hear what you’re blocking out your time for so I can cheer you on! Just hit reply to this email to let me know!

This week’s podcast episode…

What’s cooking in my kitchen…

I’ve been sharing a lot of really good recipes lately on social! Just in case you missed the ones from this past week, here are the PDF download links:

The latest from my Instagram…

One of my goals this year is to be more consistent on social media, so I’ve committed to sharing at least one post a day on Instagram. If you’re there, I’d love to connect with you—find me at @RuthSoukup

ruthsoukup

View more on Instagram

What’s Happening Around RSO…