Have you ever thought that you were selfish if you set aside time to pamper yourself? How is your relationship with yourself doing if you won’t make time for yourself? Take charge and find a new level to your life that improves all aspects of your relationships as you carve out time for yourself.

Once, I thought I was so unimportant that I should do nothing for myself. The only problem with that train of thought was that it led me to believe that I had no worth because I couldn’t do everything for everyone else I thought I should help. What do you suppose happened next?

Shut Down

When I lost my own self worth, I stopped trying to do anything for myself or others. I’d still go to work, but when I got home, I stopped living. I would walk through the door, say hi to my wife and plop down in front of the TV. When dinner was ready, I would eat with little conversation, and I would then go back to the TV until I went to bed.

When my TV viewing got to be too much for my wife, I switched to computer games. I was disconnected and had no idea what was wrong in my life. I lived in misery and hated myself and others. What was I to do?

Powering Up

You may find my opinion of TV and computer games irritating, but I make no excuses for my conviction. Having been there, I know that there is much better in life. I don’t mind occasional viewing or playing, but daily, for hours, is just a means to numb yourself. I was so numb it sometimes amazes me that I could even come out of the funk I was in from the self hate I had.

Coming out of the funk came slowly. The first step was when I went back to school because I wanted something for myself. I studied Political Economy in a Masters program from an unaccredited college. The degree wasn’t as important to me as what I could gain. I wanted knowledge and I wanted to learn how to use it to protect myself and my family. There’s a story behind that, but it is for another day.I never finished that degree, but I learned an awful lot about myself and the world from my efforts. One thing that I wish I had learned a bit earlier was that I needed reading glasses. The biggest take away for me was that I loved to learn and apply what I learned. It freshened my spirit and I had more energy to take on challenges.

Life doesn’t always give us what we expect, but I think that is a real plus. Sometimes we have expectations that are so wrong that we need something different. I needed a real change in my attitude. I had improved my use of time slightly, but I needed so much more improvement.

Time for a Change

My dear wife had been after me for years to quit my job and be an entrepreneur, but I was always reluctant. I always said that I was not a salesman, and I was right. Life poked me to change, and after some real pushing from my employer, I decided to take the leap. My employer didn’t know they were pushing me, but I had had enough.

Funny thing about being an entrepreneur, you have to answer to yourself. It is a great seminar on self improvement. I did not spend my time wisely or efficiently. I wasted it to be quite honest. Stuck in self hate, I had no direction. I again got poked by life. I knew something had to change, but I still didn’t know what it was that I could change. Along came my wife looking for something better, and she drug me into the world of mentoring.

The first seminar I attended changed my life, but I almost didn’t make it there. I was so stuck that I didn’t want to go. I’m glad that I went just to please my wife, because the results were remarkable. What I saw as problems with everyone else were really caused by me. I’ll discuss that in another post, but let it suffice that I had to change for things to change, and they have been changing.

Time Management

So what does that have to do with time for me? Reliably managing your time requires self control and self worth. Anyone can use techniques to force themselves to use time in a particular manner, but can they stick with it? Think about it. How can you stick with a program if you don’t think you have enough value to stick with it. Time moves on without us paying attention. When we stop paying attention to what we are doing, we fail to notice how we are acting. Time management will fall by the wayside as we lose track of our actions. Distractions creep into our routine. We sabotage our efforts because we are afraid to succeed. Time moves on without us noticing.

I hope that you will take some time for yourself and will work on finding ways to improve how you see yourself. I want you to discover the love and passion that I have for life. It is awesome, and you can have it too. Take a look at some of the resources I have available at livingtreeconnections.com.