A few weeks ago I spent 6 days with my parents in Blue Springs, Missouri.  My Dad is my business partner in Connective Management and PBG Publishing.  I flew in that week to surprise my Mom for Mother’s Day.

The first day I arrived, I spent the day with my folks working in their yard.  Since they have retired, they love their yard.  We were cleaning leaves from the gutters, moving dirt and spreading grass seed.  (It’s much greener in Missouri than Texas, I can tell you that.)

My Dad and I had been working on seeding the front yard for about an hour, when out of the blue he asked me, “What would you rather be doing?”

We both had a laugh, since at that moment I was just finishing spreading 5 wheelbarrows full of dirt.  Though I wouldn’t have picked working in the dirt, I would say that there wasn’t anything I’d rather do than be with my folks.  But it really got me thinking.  What an amazing question that we should all ask ourselves quite regularly.

“What would you rather be doing?”

Many of us spend our lives “settling” for something less than what we really want.  We settle for jobs we don’t like, careers that don’t fulfill us, and business situations that give us stomach aches.  We put up with relationships that are not healthy, company culture that is toxic and even goals that are soft.

Why?  Are we lazy?  Are we past caring?  Are we afraid that change might be worse than settling?

My guess is that all of these are true at times.  But let me challenge you, and challenge myself.  Let’s NOT settle!

If the answer every day, to the question of “What would you rather be doing?” is “SOMETHING ELSE!,”  than it’s time to make a change.  If you always wish you were somewhere else, doing something else, than make an adjustment!  Time is one of our most valuable resources and we can never get it back.  Try not to waste it.  Try not to take it for granted.  That’s my hope for you and for me.

What would you rather be doing?