It took me 20 years to understand this irony- that the people who keep saying they’re “busy” are spending more time doing just that.

You’ll almost NEVER hear a super successful person say they’re “too busy”. And the ones I’ve met are super quick about getting stuff done.

If they don’t want to do something, they let it be known that it’s not a priority, since “busy” is what unsuccessful people say they were after missing a deadline or going silent on you for days.

Your project wasn’t a priority- it’s that simple.

I know that when I’ve made a promise to get something done, that may mean I have to sacrifice an hour of TV, an hour of video games, an hour of exercise, an hour of hanging out with friends, an hour of watching funny YouTube videos, or an hour of sleep that day.

We all have the time to get done whatever is important to us.

I ran Division 1 cross country and track at Southern Methodist University. Racing actual Africans who were world-class was quite a step up from winning at the high school level.

I got my butt kicked so bad in my first race freshman year that the winners were finishing 3 minutes before me, running 5 miles in 22 minutes, compared to my 25 minutes.

I attempted to quit the team, telling the coach that I needed to focus on school.

I didn’t have the time to work out twice a day and run 100 miles a week. After all, I was on a full academic scholarship, as opposed to an athletic one. Of course, the coach should understand that I was too “busy” to run.

But the coach told me that I had the time. He knew I played a lot of pool, watched TV, and spent time just lounging around doing nothing.

I didn’t have to sacrifice school or sleep to put time into practice.

And he was right. Instead of making excuses, I ran the fastest times of my life and still graduated magna cum laude.

Are you telling others and yourself that you’re “too busy”?

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.

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