This is the second part of the training designed to shift your perspective around what’s possible.
This too is going to be an interactive experience and you’ll need your phone to participate, we are going to keep using the calculator app quite extensively.
In part 1 of this training, we did an exercise that was designed to make you more mindful. In this second part of the training, we are focusing on becoming more intentional.
Being intentional, particularly around time, is crucial because how you spend time is essentially how you spend life.
First things first, what does being intentional mean? To me, it means being deliberate, doing something with a sense of purpose or with a goal in mind.
Right now, let’s focus on the 4.5 hours per day that you spend on your phone. This number comes from the part 1, and it tells me that you do have some free time, don’t you? At the end of the day, it’s about how you’re choosing to spend it.
By the way, if you want to check the number for yourself, then go ahead, open up the settings on your iPhone and check your Screen Time. In my experience, that number is always higher than we think.
Let’s say you can cut your phone consumption by just 13 minutes a day. Why 13? No reason, I just like this number.
If we put it into the context of a whole year, that’s enough time to write over a thousand gratitude statements if you do 3 per day.
Gratitude is one of the best antidotes to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry, and irritation. Having a spiritual practice is essential to a sense of harmony and well-being.
13 mins a day is enough time to do over 10 000 push-ups AND 10 000 squats AND 10 000 sit-ups AND 10 000 glute bridges if you do just 28 of each every day. It’s only 2 rounds of 14 reps: 14 push-ups, 14 squats, 14 sit-ups, and 14 glute bridges. Just imagine how much of a difference it’ll make.
How do you think your pecs, legs, abs, and glutes will look and feel after being worked on for 10 000 times? Rhetorical question, ain’t it? Let me tell ya: they are gonna be tight and right 💪🏼
13 minutes a day is enough time to learn a whole new language on a basic conversational level. In this video, I said that I started using an app called Duolingo to learn Spanish. They recently issued a yearly report and it shows that I was using the app for about 17 mins a day on average.
Just imagine, if you carve out 17 (or 13) minutes every day, this time next year you’ll be able to speak a whole new language. How cool is that? Interestingly, the report says that my numbers put me in the top 1% of learners in the world.
17 minuntes = top 1%. You know what that tells me? That reminds me of the power of consistency and goes hand-in-hand with my philosophy of doing the average to be good.
Remember, it started with the silly 13 mins.
Does that seem too good to be true? Well, let’s see.
Pull out your calculator, we’re going to put these numbers into perspective.
Go ahead and multiply 13 minutes by 365 days. That’s 4 745 min. Divide that by 60 (the number of minutes in 1 hour). That’s 79.08 hours per year. Now, let’s divide that by 8 hours (an average workday). We get 9.885, almost 10. That’s 10 work days. Just think about it: 10 work days equals 2 full weeks of work.
Doesn’t seem like a joke anymore, isn’t it? That’s what I’m talking about. Those silly 13 minutes can make a world of difference. So, don’t take it lightly.
I know you’re excited but that’s just the beginning, we’re going to take it to a whole new level.
Let’s say you can cut your phone consumption by 30 minutes a day.
Quick math once again. We multiply 30 minutes by 365 days and get 10 950 minutes. Then, we divide it by 60 minutes. That’s a total of 182.5 hours per year. Now, divide that by 8 hours and get 22.8125, almost 23 workdays.
Do you know what this number means? It’s a full month of work! Yep. Just think about it: 30 minutes of focused time per day translates into a full month of work per year!
Here are some more ideas on how to put this time to good use.
1. You can double down on reading. If you’re a really SLOW reader you’ll be averaging a book per month. By the end of the year you will have read 12 new books.
2. You can take a free educational course from Harvard. Yep, that Harvard. As I am writing this article, there are 113 courses available for free on their website. I did a quick scan and found a 3-week course called “Remote Work Revolution for Everyone” that teaches how to build trust, increase productivity and use digital tools intelligently. Or perhaps you’d be interested in taking a 4w-eek course called “American Government: Constitutional Foundation” and learn how early American politics informed the U.S. Constitution and why its promise of liberty and equality has yet to be fully realized.
Harvard is not the only place that offers free quality education. In fact, most top universities have a bunch of free online courses. If you’re interested, let me know, and I can make a separate video about that.
3. You can learn to play a music instrument.
4. You can start a side hustle and make some extra money.
If 30 minutes translates into a month, then an hour a day will translate into 2 full months of work.
OMG it’s insane!
Let’s review what we’ve covered today.
With a minimal effort of just 13 minutes a day, you can:
- Start a life-changing gratitude practice (or a meditation practice) and become more joyful and receptive to the goodness in your life;
- Get tight and right (remember that example with 10 000 reps);
- Learn the basics of a new language.
If you bump it up to 30 minutes a day you can:
- You can read a dozen books;
- Educate yourself by taking a free online course from one of the top universities;
- Learn to play a music instrument;
- Start a side hustle and make some extra money.
The options are abundant, the choice is yours.
