Time-Rich Living: How Turbo Thinkers© Can Rewrite Their Stories
Earlier this week, I collaborated with a Turbo Thinker© who once found themselves mired in the depths of misery. Rowan's initial strategy was to endure the grind of a lucrative job until early retirement, then live their best life. However, the present was a quagmire of stress and overwhelm. Their relationship teetered on the edge, and their social life had withered, friendships abandoned. Creative hobbies were discarded, health was neglected, and sleep became a deficit. Work became joyless, a cycle of late homecomings, complaints to their partner, and prolonged TV sessions, delaying bedtime. And, oh, did I mention they're in their 30s? Even I wanted to cry.
Rowan's mindset narrated a tale of present misery for a future of wealth and happiness. Our shared mission was to expedite their journey to feeling rich and happy, ideally well before retirement. How could we craft an alternative narrative, fostering action effortlessly? How could we transition from a mindset of scarcity to abundance? How could we shift from fear, an emotion that freezes our capacity to access our executive function skills, to calm, a state that opens channels for creativity?
Rowan exclaimed, "There is just not enough time!" Ah, such a familiar phrase in our Turbo Thinker© world. Indeed, time in astrological terms remains fixed. We live on a planet that spins on a certain axis in a certain orbit, determining the length of our days and nights, all out of our control. How nice would it be to press a pause button on our solar system, just for once? And yet, our human brain's perception of time does have the ability to change, whether consciously or not. When our feelings around a task or situation are negative, we perceive time as moving slowly, like dripping molasses. When we experience positive emotions around a task or situation, time flies like an ignited rocket. Moreover, as Turbo Thinkers©, we can find ourselves in a state of hyperfocus, where we lose all sense of time, even to the point of ignoring our physical needs. We can also perceive time as either "Now" or "Not Now" so that every single thing in our mind at that very moment feels equally urgent AND important! It was this last mental state that Rowan experienced. There was so much they had to do that they felt paralyzed and could do nothing. Nothing but the job they were being paid to do, and even that, they felt, was not up to par.
What if we could find a way to go from feeling time-poor to feeling time-rich? I had posed this question to another Turbo Thinker© as well, Charlie. After a long pause, her demeanor completely changed, and she lit up like a Christmas tree. "This is what I do with my own clients," she shared, "I help them change their relationship with money." Charlie happens to be a financial advisor. When I asked how she does this, she replied that she begins by helping them examine their spending habits in a kind and non-judgmental way. Only after analyzing how they use their money and, more importantly, how they feel about it can they co-create a budget and a plan. The plan is not just a savings (for later) plan but also a spending (now) plan. We considered the following questions:
How do you spend your time now?
How do you feel about how you spend your time?
What patterns do you see?
Where do you want to spend more time?
Where do you want to spend less time?
What can you give up to make space for more?
BUT! BUT! BUT! The limiting beliefs pop up around this point in the heads of high-achieving Turbo Thinkers© like popcorn kernels. You may need a coach if the voice in your head says, "But the world will end if I don't do it all." "But I am the only person that can do that. It has to be me, all alone and perfect." Or, "But I really SHOULD do this, and this, and this, and that too." Beware of the "shoulds"! Do you really want to be shoulding all over yourself? Who says? You are a grown-up adult. You get to decide how you live your life. This is deeper and stronger than time management tools or productivity hacks. You have agency.
One of our unique Turbo Thinker© traits is the rebel brain. It can sometimes act like a toddler having a temper tantrum, digging its heels in and screaming, "I don't wanna!" It can sometimes be more like Billy Idol wearing a black leather jacket and lifting a cool eyebrow with a mischievous curled lip. How can you use that trait for a Rebel Yell against an attack of the Shoulds? Our brain does not like to be told what to do by others, but when it is our own original idea, driven by innate passion, then get out of the way. The saying, "Where there is a will, there is a way," is an accurate description of the Turbo Thinker© brain. How can you get clarity on what you really want to be doing with your time so you can find a way to make time appear out of nowhere?
This is what Rowan had figured out over the course of a few weeks. Even their therapist and partner had noticed an incredible transformation. Rowan shared stories of weekend adventures with old friends and family; they returned to their creative writing practice; they feel present when making and enjoying dinner with their partner; they have signed up for a race and are training again. Rowan doesn't hate their job anymore. They found the ability to rewrite their own story, and they didn't have to wait until they were 65 years old to live it. How can you become time-rich, too?