Forward

“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.” - Karen Lamb

We’ll, here we go.  By popular demand…well, some demand at least…this represents my foray into the world of writing a recurring article.  As most of you know, the intent of these articles will be to provide regular, focussed, insightful and perhaps most importantly, thought provoking content to interested students, private clients and colleagues.  If all goes well, I’ll try to achieve a balance between e-commerce practice, mindset strategies and research findings…held together with just enough story telling and analogies to keep people interested.  Although brevity is not my strong suit, I’ll also try my best to keep each email to what can be read in 15 minutes give or take…we all feel the burden of information overload from time to time and it is not my goal to exacerbate that.  With all that said, welcome to Purple Patch (if you’re not sure what a Purple Patch is, check out the about page HERE).  Let’s get started.

I felt as though a logical place to start, a forward of sorts, would be the “why”.  Time is valuable and finite, yet it’s arguably the resource most undervalued by the average person, not to mention entrepreneurs, executives, parents or otherwise time-crunched overachievers.  So why devote time to consuming this type of content? Simply put, cost-benefit. Like it or not, we’re biologically programmed to assess decisions (consciously or subconsciously) based on their cost-benefit.  Is my  life insurance worth it?  Is that company a good investment?  Should I let my would-be astronomer daughter stay up late on a school night to witness a rare planetary event.  Documentary or comedy?  Fries or salad?…you get the point.  In some cases, it’s an either-or.  You can do one or the other, both are in front of you and the options are clear.  In others, it’s an opportunity cost.  You can do this, but might the resources spent (money, energy, time) be better saved to take advantage of a future opportunity that isn’t obvious at the moment. The issue is that we live in a world where it’s increasingly easy to passively burn through the time we have chasing non-value added quick hits.  What I call “time sucks”, expertly wrapped up and sold to us as wins because we “deserve it”, we’ve “earned it” or we “need to unwind”.  Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for all those things but what we should be asking is “Unwind from what?”  What is it that’s bothering me, that if I just addressed it wouldn’t bother me anymore?  Am I better to spend my time addressing it or stuck in a constant cycle of getting wound up and then needing to unwind, only to get wound up again.  Pay once and move forward…or pay forever and stay in one place.  I’d argue that the answer is clear and that it begins with how we choose to spend our time.

As some of you will know, when I was a much younger man I was fortunate enough to compete as an elite athlete doing something I loved.  I got to travel, meet and befriend some truly inspiring people and despite not being the most naturally gifted athlete, was able to compete for my country on the world stage.  More than anything else, that was the result of how I spent my time.  As I say, I was a mediocre talent at best but I was one of the first to show up and one of the last to leave.  I studied technique, “hacked” my sleep, focussed on my nutrition, listened to every word that came out of my coach's mouth(s) and never stopped looking for marginal gains.  I consistently made the choice to become the best version of myself and outperform my competitors by spending my time doing the things they were unmotivated, unwilling or unable to do.

I’ll never forget a conversation I had with a friend after an important event that I’d recently competed in.  “I’d love to get back in shape and do what you do, even at a more casual level but I just don’t have the time.”, he said.  Here’s the rub…5 minutes earlier, he’d been explaining how he’d spent the better part of the previous weekend watching whatever Netflix show was in vogue at the time.  He made a solid case for the show, reiterating it’s highlights in great dramatic detail.  Now it’s fair to say that I’m proud of that time in my life and I’ll never forget the feeling of seeing my name emblazoned across my first national team uniform or the tear in my eye at hearing my national anthem.  The decisions I made and the habits I formed leading to those moments are something I carry with me today.  As for my friend…if asked today, I suspect he couldn’t tell me the name of that show, let alone recall any meaningful elements of the plot line.  He still watches Netflix more than he should…he still needs to get in shape too.

In the end, we can opt to spend our time reacting to the world around us, constantly prey to the whims of others or worse, we can choose to “waste” our time on socials, trying to achieve the next level on our favourite game or binge watching that show…only to discover that the world has continued on without us and that the things we may have hoped to escape are still there, except now more pressing.  As nice as it is to like a friend's picture of their dinner, laugh at a cute cat video or watch one last episode of a show we won’t remember next week before going to bed, none of those things move you in the right direction.  None of that time spent will build your business, establish meaningful relationships or otherwise move you in the direction of your goals.  The difference between those who succeed and those that don’t, begins with how they choose to spend their time.  My hope is that with this venture, I can offer a better way to spend your time and maybe, just maybe, some of the building blocks that may help you to achieve your Purple Patch.  Stay tuned!