I have too much to do and not enough time to do it.

We have all heard someone say this (or said it ourselves) and we have all, for sure, felt it. Just over the last few days there have been numerous times, in a variety of situations, that I have heard it.

We all know that there is a fixed amount of time, so why is it that we’re always over-filling it? Even less ambitious and less driven people complain about not having enough time to do everything they want to.

We like being in control of our lives, but most people feel like they aren’t. I contend that we all have more control than we think we do.

Control doesn’t mean you control everything that happens. It means you confidently move forward with your goals and priorities, understanding that there are things that happen that are beyond your control.

This means that you are clear about who you are and what you want. It requires you to take intentional action.

You have the superpower of choice, but you have to use it.

Sometimes the changing seasons can be quick and serious. The weather here has been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past several weeks. We’ve had temperatures ranging from below zero to seventy. Some of these swings have happened within days.

It’s currently seventeen degrees on midday Friday as I’m writing this. It’s predicted to be in the upper sixties by Monday. On the other side of this extreme, we had a low temperature of five degrees below zero this past Wednesday.

When the temperature gets down into single digits there is the concern of freezing water lines. This can lead to broken pipes and water damage. With proper preparation and planning these problems can be reduced.

This is where a home maintenance plan comes in.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks“. This means that it is very difficult to teach someone new skills or change someone’s habits, especially when they’re older. This phrase is often used to express the challenges of altering deeply rooted behaviors or learning new concepts. It is not typically about actual dogs, rather it reflects human experiences concerning change.

I thought I knew everything I needed to when I started my construction business over forty years ago. Boy was I wrong!

You can have the best laid plans, but life happens.

You can choose to do no planning and just take things as they come. This haphazard process gives control of your life to others. Or you can plan with so much detail that when things do happen that aren’t part of your plans, everything falls apart. Flexible rigidity is where planning and change can work together.

Calendars and lists are two separate things with two separate purposes.

As is normal, early in a new year there is a lot of focus on being better organized. Looking for new ways to get more done. This has been a topic that has come up in several conversations over the past few weeks. At the same time, there can be a sense of despair, knowing that you’ve been trying to be better organized over and over without much success.

We all have way more on our to do lists than there is time to get them done. The days come to an end and there’s still things that need to be done and we feel like we’ve failed.

Ultimately, it’s not going to get done if you don’t do something.

Over the past several months we’ve been talking about building a successful construction business. We’ve compared it to an actual building. You need to know what it is you’re building, what kind of ground you’re going to build on, and why it is you’re building.

Clarity of what you want to build and having a plan is critical to success.

Then comes the hard part … if you’re going to get it built, you have to do something. Making a decision and then taking action is hard. Especially when it involves something as big and overwhelming as building a business.

This is the place where most people fail.

The past couple of weeks we talked about my “aha moment” and how the Seven Decisions in Andy Andrews’ book The Traveler’s Gift were a part of that.

In the book, David Ponder feels like a failure and is ready to give up. That is until his amazing, supernatural journey through time. On this journey, he makes seven stops, each one providing a ‘Decision for Success’.

He is instructed to keep them with him—reading each one every morning and every evening for twenty-one days—committing these seven principles to his heart. Only then will they become a part of who he is, leading to a changed life.