6 Ways Successful People Spend Their Time

I’m really enjoying Jay Shetty’s shorter podcast where he lists off a few tips on a certain topic. I think it’s a combination of the quick-fire aspect and how useful the tips really are that I really gravitate towards. In about 30 minutes I have something new to reflect on. I thought I’d go even deeper than just some introspective thought on this topic because it really resonated with me, and the actionable steps are straightforward and easy to incorporate into our lives.

This episode was about 6 ways successful people spend their time. Now, this wasn’t just a list of 6 ways successful people spend their time to give us an insight into their lives, but rather comparing the ways most of us spend our time and the small changes we can make to focus on achieving our goals. I mean, success is relative and if you feel successful then that’s all that really matters. Some may say that money is the most objective measure of success, but it too can be relative. If you’re happy, doing something you love, and able to live comfortably within your means, then I’d see that as success.

Anyway, here are the 6 ways successful people spend their time:

Find a way to make something useful

This first way to spend our time is more of a change in mindset than doing something. How often do we come away from an event or meeting feeling like it was a complete waste of time or even in the moment, wish to be somewhere else? Shetty suggests shifting our mindset in these “unpleasant” situations to see them as useful. This may sound difficult or even idealistic, but I try to do this in every situation, and I’ve found it to be useful. There is always something we can learn from others or about ourselves in any situation. For example, if it’s an argument, we can learn how to be more understanding or learn how to better communicate in similar circumstances. If it seems like a complete waste of time, we can shift the learning experience to one of patience. You get the idea, but thinking this way can help us be more open, random, and selective.

Study instead of envy

There is always going to be someone more “successful” than us in any field we are interested in. We can choose to either study these people or envy them. Envy comes from a negative place and leads to resentment. It’s not a very productive feeling to have and so feeling this way towards someone doesn’t improve our situation and doesn’t affect them either. Deciding to admire these people and learning about how they achieved their success is a much better way to view them. It now comes from a positive place that benefits both of us. Learning about their process helps us improve and grow, we see their success as something that can lead us in our pursuit. So much positivity comes from seeing people this way that envy doesn’t seem to make sense. Even if that person is close to you and you’re competing for a similar role/position. Being happy for them and learning why they got chosen over you, seems like a better approach than negativity towards them.

Education vs entertainment

Everyone loves to unwind, and we shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for doing so, but binge-watching Netflix can become excessive and unproductive. Just swapping the time we spend watching episode after episode with reading a book can make such a difference. There are only so many hours in the day and if we want to improve and grow, carving out the time to learn is so important. This doesn’t mean cutting out any form of entertainment as we always need a balance. It just means that picking up a book and reading about something we’re interested in as regularly as we would watch Netflix could make a big difference. It may seem hard at first, but little by little it becomes a lot easier and before you know it, you prefer it.

Intelligence vs emotions

Acting with intelligence over emotions is an obvious one that I feel most people struggle with. It’s common to let our emotions dictate our actions and this isn’t always the best approach. In the moment I find myself thinking that I should not act on my emotions so much and yet I don’t practice it as much as I’d like. If you’re able to take a step back and not act emotionally, it can become a superpower in many high-pressure situations. Shetty suggests filtering your motions by firstly asking whether something is true, then whether it’s useful and lastly whether the emotion you are feeling is actionable. If your feelings pass through that test then it’s a good idea to act on your emotions, but I feel like this isn’t the case most of the time.

Growth over Goals

This means that we should prioritise the journey over the end destination. Of course, it’s good to have an end destination insight and setting goals can be helpful but focusing on how we are going to get there is even more important. Breaking down that final goal into actionable steps is the best way to achieve it. We can ask ourselves what the best step towards that goal is, and what we need to do today. You can break down a goal into tiny micro-steps that will eventually get you there. It could be a daily or weekly practice or a milestone you must meet every week/month. Having these smaller steps and planned strategies is important in achieving our goals.

Understand the value of therapy and coaching

I don’t have as much experience as I would like in this final point, but the importance of a coach is clear. Most successful CEOs or entrepreneurs have a coach or go to therapy because they are willing to admit that they can’t do it all. There is always room to grow and having someone in your corner wanting you to succeed can be very helpful. When I had very bad anxiety, going to therapy helped a lot. It helped me put things into perspective and hearing another opinion about how I was feeling changed the way I viewed my own situation. Even if we don’t feel like we need it, speaking to a professional can be beneficial. Once I’m able to afford some form of coaching I have every intention to use one. It would be silly not to.