Rewrite Your Past
[00:00:00] Hey there, friend. Today we're diving deep into the ocean of time management and productivity, but with a twist.
Picture this, you're running late for a meeting. Your to-do list is never ending, and you feel the weight of every task you didn't complete yesterday.
That unfinished project from last week, it haunts you. But why? Why does our past, especially our unproductive past, seem to have such a tight grip on our present, Our past, whether we're thinking about our personal past or our past in the realm of productivity doesn't exist anywhere, but in our thoughts. You are not actually being dragged down by that unfinished task from last week. Instead you're being pulled down by your thoughts about that task. Kind of mind blowing, isn't it? But what can we do? Thoughts just pop in our heads. We can't control that. Or can we?
Do you ever think or say, well, I can't help it. That's just how I feel, or that just pisses me off, or this [00:01:00] just stresses me out.
Do you want to believe that you can't help it, that it's out of your control, that life is happening to you and you're just reacting to it naturally? But if that's the case, you're kind of screwed, right?
Because that would mean that your emotions are caused by outside forces, which are mostly out of your control. That would mean to feel better, you would have to get everyone and everything else to change. And you can do this sometimes, but the amount of effort involved is often really significant and sometimes you literally can't change it.
And that's what I mean. In that case, if you can't change it, then you'd kind of be screwed. This thing pisses you off or stresses you out or makes you feel bad about yourself, and you're just stuck at the mercy of it.
But remember, it's our thoughts about things that actually create our feelings. We have somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. How did anyone figure that out? I don't know. I guess maybe they were measuring like. Electronic signals in [00:02:00] people's brains or something. But either way, we all know that we have a lot of thoughts, tons and tons of conscious and subconscious thoughts.
Let's just think about your drive to work. Are you actively thinking, okay, I'm 1500 feet from the intersection. Let me turn on my turn signal. We have tons and tons of thoughts, and so many of them have been delegated to like our lower brain, so they're automated and thank goodness, like you don't have to think left foot, right foot, and no left foot again, right?
It just happens. But there can be a downside to this. Lots of repeated thoughts get delegated to our subconscious. So when it comes to time management, we often anchor ourselves to thoughts about our quote unquote failures.
We say, oh, I've always been bad with time, or I never meet deadlines.
But here's the kicker. These are just stories we tell ourselves. They're our chosen narratives.
And just as we can choose to tell a story of a horrible or wonderful life, [00:03:00] we can choose to rewrite our time management story.
Think about it. If you only focus on the moments, you missed a deadline, or you didn't complete a task, then you're reinforcing a narrative of inefficiency. But what if you also remembered the times you were on point, the days you crushed your to-do list or that project you completed way ahead of schedule.
Are you giving equal time to those things? We've all had productive and unproductive days. Which ones you choose to emphasize in your story determines how you approach time management in the present.
Now, I'm not saying forget about your past mistakes or setbacks. Not at all. Instead, recognize them, learn from them, but don't give them the power to dictate your present actions or mindset. The effect of your past time management missteps can either influence your current and future actions positively or negatively. It just depends on what story you wanna tell about them.
Did that project take [00:04:00] longer than expected because you've just always been bad at estimating time, or is this the project you'll use to figure out one more piece to your future mastery of time management?
So let's get practical. If you find yourself spiraling in a loop of, I'm always late, or I can't manage my time, pause, Ask yourself, is this a fact or a story I'm telling here? Challenge that narrative. You don't wanna keep thinking thoughts that reinforce a story you don't like.
For every, I'm always late. Remember a time you were punctual? Balance the scales or think a thought that's more in alignment with where you're going, like what you're working towards. Like how about, I like being punctual. I like being early. I'm figuring this out and getting better at this. I'm learning how to be more punctual.
Ultimately, your productivity and time management today are not defined by yesterday's actions, but by the [00:05:00] thoughts about yesterday. So why not think about the lessons you learned, the growth you achieved, or the potential that lies ahead. By shifting our focus and rewriting our productivity story, we can unlock a future where we feel in control, where time is our ally, not our enemy. So here's my challenge to you this week.
Set a timer for two minutes. You have two minutes. No matter how bad you are at time management, you can find two minutes to do this. Decide right now when those two minutes are going to be. If you're driving a car, not now, okay?
Okay, so once you hit start on your timer, then write down all the thoughts that come to your mind about your past when it comes to productivity and time management. When the timer goes off, read the thoughts back and notice how it makes you feel.
Your feelings drive your actions. So if this is the story you're currently telling, is it going to propel you in the direction you want? If you don't like the feelings this story creates, [00:06:00] rewrite it.
Yes, we can rewrite our past. Here's how I used to tell my story.
I've always been a disaster with time management. I procrastinate a ton, but I need that pressure. I need the pressure of a deadline to get myself to complete something. I need stress to get myself to focus. Now, I believed that story. Do you feel a little bit stressed out listening to it?
I know I do.
If you had challenged it back before I learned all of these things, I probably would've argued with you. I would've said, well, that's not a story. That's just the truth. But remember back then I had a fixed mindset and I believed that was like just part of me. It was actually what I believed to be part of what made me successful.
I believed I needed stress. That was how I was built. It's what worked for me sort of.
But of course now I know that I could tell this story in so many ways. I could put like a moderately positive spin on it.
For [00:07:00] example, I could say I worked constantly as a kid. Most would probably say I was terrible with time management, but somehow I earned phenomenal grades and graduated first in my major from Villanova University. So my system worked and it still works for me. I get a lot done. Yeah, I'm pretty stressed all the time, and I always feel behind, but somehow I always figure out how to get done, what needs to get done, even if it means pulling all-nighters.
Now that feels pretty true, but here's the new story that I like to tell of my past. I still believe and say I was a disaster with time management for most of my life because I didn't realize it then, but I had a fixed mindset and I believed that was just who I was, and that was largely unchangeable.
If it weren't so extreme, I may have just lived with it, but fortunately it was so awful that I had to figure out how to make a change, and I had done enough personal development and mindset work to realize my potential was limitless. And thank goodness I had such a bad experience because it was the [00:08:00] catalyst I needed not only to reach a level of normalcy, but to ultimately reach a state where I now accomplish everything I wanna do, and I'm relaxed and happy, and now I get to share it with you.
This story feels amazing. It creates the emotion of excitement. And excitement is like one of my favorite emotions. It fuels me. So that's how I choose to tell my time management story past.
remember the past literally doesn't exist anymore. the past now just exists as thoughts in your brain.
look at how you're telling the story of the past. It matters. It's creating emotions that are fueling your actions now, and you can tell the story however you want. There's no right way to tell it.No one can tell you how you have to think about it. You can tell it however you want.
There are an infinite number of ways you can tell the story of your past. I give you [00:09:00] three versions of mind, and I can believe them all. But the first two make me feel stuck, and the last one makes me feel excited. So I'm going with number three. Okay, so it's your turn to hop in the DeLorean. How about you?
What's the new story of your past? You can't change the events of the past, but you can change the way you choose to think about it.
You have the power to rewrite any story, including your productivity tale. Until next time, my friend, stay awesome. Have a great week.
