I Don't Have the Time: The Lie That's Costing You Opportunities

Opportunity Owner,

“I don’t have the time.”

Do you ever catch yourself saying that? More importantly, how do you react when others say it?

I’ll be honest, it’s a little bit of an ick for me. After all, we all get the same 24 hours in a day.

As I’ve gotten clearer on and better at achieving my own goals, I’ve had a breakthrough this week that fundamentally changed my perspective:

“Life doesn’t have to stop until the right opportunity comes to you. We can actually choose to live in anticipation or expectation.”

This week I’ll be sharing two examples with you that put this ethos into practice: one involving public speaking, and another about a hobby.

The Hobby Opportunity: Anticipating Lorde

The Public Speaking Opportunity: Anticipation in Action

For over four years, I've made a deliberate effort to speak at my public speaking club every two weeks.

Lately, however, my time has been incredibly short. I'm currently juggling a lot of roles: Division Director, Runner, Partner, Friend, Pet Dad, and more.

This time crunch has meant that my approach to public speaking has needed to change by fitting it in only when I truly could.

This past Thursday, while visiting a club in my role as Division Director, a curveball came my way. As a matter of common courtesy, I offered to help out, and they were suddenly down a speaker.

Knowing I wanted to speak, I offered to fill the gap, at just three days' notice. I gave a speech to an audience I didn't know, using a format (4 minutes) I hadn't used before.

And I made it work. I was really proud of myself (and having three people approach me afterward to ask how I did it certainly didn't hurt!).

Here’s a few of the lovely things people shared about the speech.

The Takeaways

What I learned from this experience is that we need to be prepared to act and not just sit there waiting for the perfect moment. Here are 3 practical tips I’m taking away (and you can too):

• Harness Parkinson's Law: With a deadline of just 72 hours, the task shrunk with it. Pressure creates focus.

• Trust Your Foundation: Four years of consistent practice meant I could draw from a foundation of skill instead of starting from scratch. I’ve earnt my stripes!

• Focus on the Goal, Not the Setup: My goal was to speak. The location, audience, and format were secondary details I could adapt to.

This showed me that even with a packed schedule and lots of goals, you can seize unplanned, high-value opportunities if you stay open and trust your previous efforts.

The Hobby Opportunity: Anticipating Lorde

My partner, Erin, and I are huge fans of the artist Lorde. She's playing in Manchester next weekend, but the show is completely sold out. Tickets are only available through resale.

This is a classic "expectation vs. anticipation" moment. An expectation would be obsessively checking resale sites and getting frustrated if nothing perfect pops up.

Our approach is different. It's about creating the space for the opportunity without letting the outcome control our lives.

Here’s our strategy:

• Set the Foundation (The "Yes" Budget): We agreed on a specific maximum figure we're willing to pay if tickets become available. This foundation (the money) is ready if the opportunity presents itself.

• Stay Open, Keep Moving: We are checking resale sites regularly but without panic. We are fully open to the possibility that the tickets might appear.

• A "Win/Win" Outcome:

  • If the tickets appear at our price? Great, we’ll seize the opportunity, and the money is well spent.

  • If the tickets don't appear? Also great. We simply allocate that pre-named budget towards another fun plan (my preference is dinner out).

This is anticipation in action. By being prepared, having the resources and being mentally ready, we’re not pausing our lives waiting for a single outcome.

We're ready to say Yes!

The Code to Anticipatory Achievement

We often use "I don't have the time" as a shield. But the time is always there; the preparation is what matters.

Why not apply this mindset today?

• Get clear on a goal or two that doesn’t need to be immediate.

• Be positive about it, believing it might happen.

• Draw the opportunity to you. The Law of Attraction works when you have an active plan for action.

Your Anticipatory Achiever,

Dan x