Success Depends On One Skill: How You Spend Your Spare Time
My 19 year old son asked me,”Dad, what makes people successful?”
It was a question I didn’t expect, but was proud of him for asking.
As I thought about it for a few minutes and reflected back on my experiences and many conversations with successful people, I responded….
“It’s how you spend your spare time.”
It comes down to the choices and decisions you make on how to spend your 24 hours in a day.
We are all equal when it comes to the time we have in a day and successful people spend their spare time focused on doing more of what’s helping them be successful.
Sure, you work or go to school 40–60 hrs/wk, but what do you do the other 120+ hrs/wk?
If you want to live a good life, you’d better spend your spare time wisely and learn during your spare time.
How we spend our spare time, and choices we make day in and day out, defines our success over time and ultimately solidifies our legacy.
Some choices we make are mindless.
Drive on the right side of the road?
Some are risky.
Remain in a small town with family or take the risk of relocating to a big city across the country? (my mom & dad made this choice…thank you!)
Some are tough.
Stick with my job that I hate… or quit now before I have a better opportunity?
Some are foundational.
Go to church and donate $20 or the pub to have 3 beers?
Many involve money.
Save to buy a house or lease a $500/month car and continue to rent?
No doubt, a good life requires good decisions. Knowing that our every day choices on how we spend our time is what makes us who we are and ultimately determines our success.
How we spend our spare time is what sets us apart
It’s not your IQ — — I’m not a genius nor did I go to a top university…
It’s not your socio-economic status — I grew up with food stamps and worked two jobs through college…
It’s not your race — we’ve had a 2 term African American President, the most powerful position in the world.
In other words, turn off the damned TV, video game, Facebook, throw away the beer, and do something in your spare time to build towards your success.
Open a book.
Have a conversation.
Get involved and be active in your community.
To be successful, you have to define success in your terms and then spend your spare time working towards that vision.
The big problem you may be making..
The challenge for most people is they haven’t defined their personal success and what it looks like. As a result, they don’t know how to spend their spare time to achieve success and blame others for their lack of results.
For me, success and my spare time revolves around my 3-F’s (Faith, Family, and Fitness).
It’s the reason I volunteer more than 300 hours of my time each year leading a non-profit, Lupus Foundation of California, as Chairman of the Board and coaching my kids baseball and basketball teams.
It forces me to spend time doing something I’m passionate about, but more importantly, gives me an experience that I would otherwise not be privileged to experience.
Volunteering and leading the Lupus Foundation is an opportunity and passion from my wife, who was diagnosed with lupus in 1993. Coaching my kids sports teams is an opportunity to spend more time with family, but aligns with my fitness goal.
These experiences weren’t handed to me, but I made the choice to spend my spare time here…with my kids…coaching…with a non-profit that helps my wife.
Your success depends on one skill.
Your ability to make choices, “A” or “B”, during your spare time to work towards achieving your defined success.
How are you spending your spare time and is it helping you achieve success?
