Being honest with yourself is one of the most important things you can do in life. I was talking with a friend recently, and he said something that stuck with me: when you lie to yourself, life gets harder. And honestly, I couldn’t agree more. A simple example is your schedule.
Let’s say an opportunity comes up. A new activity, a commitment, something you want to say yes to. Most people don’t actually check if it fits. They just say, “Yeah, I’ve got time.” But do you? If you really want to know, you have to plan it out. And I mean actually plan it out. Write everything down. Block your time. Lay your week out visually. Because once it’s in front of you, the truth shows up. You’ll either see that you have the time—or that you don’t. And if you ignore that truth? That’s where things start to fall apart. You overcommit. You cancel on people. You lose time with friends. Stress builds. Everything starts slipping. All because you weren’t honest up front. So when you plan, be real with yourself. If something takes two hours, don’t pretend it takes one just to squeeze something else in. That shortcut always comes back to bite you.
I’ll give you my own example:
Right now, I have four jobs (three part-time and one full-time), I’m involved in three different Catholic groups, and I’m about to start grad school. That sounds insane on paper. But when I actually mapped everything out, I realized something surprising. I still have about the same amount of free time as most people. The difference? I’m not spending hours scrolling. That time goes into building my brand, being with friends, or doing things that actually move my life forward. So yeah, my life is busy — but it’s intentional. It’s planned. And most importantly, it’s honest.
So here’s the challenge:
This week, sit down and plan your life. Map out your entire week—work, workouts, social time, everything. Then look at what’s left. How much of your free time is actually being used, and how much of it is just being scrolled away?
Take advantage of your time. Be honest with yourself. Take control of your ship - don’t let it drift.