24 hours.

That’s it – that’s what we get every day.

Interestingly, that’s all anyone gets. Regardless of social class, race, sex, country of origin or organizational title – we all get the same amount.

What’s telling is how each uses his/her daily gift of time. These decisions separate some people from the pack.

Think about it – we’re given the same amount of time to manage our lives as is given to leaders of nations, world famous scientists and Fortune 100 executives.

What do they do that we don’t? How do they fit all of those demands into a day?

While you may not like it, the biggest differentiator between “us” and ‘them” is in the choices we make.

Read that again. There are two key words in the sentence:  CHOICES and WE.

Too often we forget we have choices. There are so many demands on our lives it is easy to slip into “default” mode.

This is when we stop trying to manage our lives and instead, let them manage us. We are no longer the “dog” – we become the “tail.”

“Hang on,” you retort. “We don’t have choices, we must do what others expect us to do.”

To some degree that is true. We need to show up to work on time and we need to pick up the kids from karate class. I get it.

However, there are many situations where we simply don’t make choices to best utilize our time. We accept demands without push back or challenge. We procrastinate and pontificate.

The consequence?

Our lives become consumed with demands we are convinced are non-negotiable.

Days, weeks, months and years slip by without making deliberate choices to create the life we desire.

Typically, the areas of our life suffering the most include:

1. Physical:  Exercise, fitness, stress reduction and sport.
2. Intellectual: learning, growth and developmental activities.
3. Spiritual: attending church, doing devotionals, prayer and meditation.
4. Interpersonal: deepening our relationships with friends and family.
5. Intrapersonal: developing better relationship with our self; becoming the best that you can be as a person.

Ironically, these categories are what make life worth living! These dimensions are the primary source of personal well-being, purpose, worth and satisfaction.

How is it we allow our choices to steal these from us before they steal “shoveling the driveway!”

The challenge is to shake off your tired, default choices and be deliberate in how you use time.

It won’t happen in one giant action. It is an accumulation of many small steps.

Take stock of the choices you are making with regard to your time.

Get creative and find alternatives to what, at first glance, appear to be “must do’s.”

Set a goal to reclaim 25% of your time in 2012.

When you succeed – choose deliberately and wisely with regard to how you want to reallocate.

Take back your life one hour at a time!

For those of you who have learned to choose deliberately, share some of your secrets in the comments section – we should learn from each other.