You Hit the Jackpot!!! Now stop gambling your time and money away.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t have the money” or “I don’t have the time.” Have YOU ever said that to other people? Here’s a bold statement: Time and money are never issues - they are only excuses. Why? Because both time and money are concepts we, as humanity, have invented. They really don’t exist.

What is Money???
When I was in Grade 9, I was offered to enroll in a program called Shad Valley. I really wanted to participate, but declined since it would cost $2,000. I didn’t have the money. This was before I listened to Tony Robbins’ tape on financial mastery. Continuing to get “distinctions” around finances caused me to enroll in every program that would catch my eye. My financial circumstances didn’t change. My mind-set did.

Rob Proctor, in his article “It’s Easy to Earn Money,” says, “The paper you fold and place in your purse or pocket is not money. It is paper with ink on it. It represents money, but it is not money. Money is an idea. The earning of money has nothing to do with the paper stuff. It has to do with consciousness.”

Why do we have money? Currency is an efficient way of exchanging goods and services that have varying costs. In other words, money is nothing more than the indication of VALUE. “I don’t have the money” translates into “I don’t put that much VALUE on the product or service you have presented to me.” It’s not about what we have or don’t have - in fact, we can always find/make more money. It’s about the VALUE we place on an offer.

Someone might be thinking, what about low-income people? What about people who are living in poverty? They just can’t go and find more money. Yes, they can! It’s hard, I know. I’ve been there. It feels impossible sometimes. And, it is possible. Look at any rags-to-riches story. How did they do it? It all starts by seeing possibility in our future, instead of blaming our present circumstances.

What is Time???
Again in Grade 9, I was doing pretty well in school. I had time on my hands, in fact, so I went to my guidance counselor and asked if I could take an additional night-school course. I HAD the time. My guidance counselor showed me that although I had the time, I really was running away from something - I didn’t have much of a social life and I was hurting inside. So, I took his advice and changed my priorities.

What is time? We all have twenty-four hours in a day. Therefore, what we choose to do in any given moment is based on the PRIORITY we place on doing that thing. We do “this” instead of “that” because we PRIORITIZE “this” more. “I don’t have the time,” therefore, translates into “I don’t PRIORITIZE that activity over anything else that I am doing in my life.” We can always find/make time for the things that become a PRIORITY to us.

Someone might think, what if we’re too busy with three jobs, just trying to make enough money to survive? How can we possibly MAKE more time? When we’re all stressed out and exhausted from our day-to-day activities, it can be very difficult to see how we can make more time. There are lots of ways and lots of resources available to us that teach us how to maximize our time. Again, the first step is realizing and acknowledging that it is POSSIBLE. Seeing something as possible, is the first step in seeing something as real.

What are we Saying???
Sometimes, when we say “I don’t have the money” we really do mean “I don’t place that much VALUE on that product or service.” In this case, why not just tell the truth? Why are we trying to be so polite? By being polite, we end up conditioning ourselves to live with a mentality of poverty. Similarly, when we politely say “I don’t have the time,” we end up conditioning ourselves to live busy lives full of clutter.

Integrity is an important characteristic that is taught in many personal development programs. Some people think, “I have integrity because I don’t lie.” Now, have we ever been guilty of saying “I don’t have time/money” to someone? Sure, we can say that we weren’t LYING - however, can we honestly say that we had INTEGRITY? Could it be that we were just trying to quickly end a conversation? I know I have been guilty of this.

What’s the Source???
Other times, those translations aren’t accurate - It’s not a value/priority issue, it’s something different. In those scenarios, let’s discover what is really going on for us. Why are we putting up an obstacle? What’s the source of our feelings and emotions? Do we have a prejudice against the person who made the offer? Do we have a better offer from someone else? Are we just not in a good mood? Once we find out what’s really behind our reluctance for an offer, we may find that our objection is not well founded. Or, we may find a true “reason,” in which case, that’s even better! Now we have a valid reason instead of a poor excuse.

Where’s the Jackpot???
You’ve hit the Jackpot! You understand that time and money are CONCEPTS and YOU control them. Don’t gamble your time and money away by using language that doesn’t communicate authenticity.