Time: How Much Do You Really Have Left?

🎙️ This episode might change how you see your life.

Seriously.

You'll discover a simple but powerful exercise that shows you — in black and white — how much time you’ve likely got left.

It’s not meant to scare you (though it might).

It’s meant to wake you up.

Because if something in your business or life isn’t working…

And you keep telling yourself “I’ll sort it out later”…

You need to hear this.

Because "later" is getting closer.

And the time you think you’ve got? Well, it’s disappearing quicker than you might realise.

So tune in now — and then do the exercise linked here: https://theinfluentialconsultant.co.uk/downloads/80-years-of-life/%20 

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1️⃣ Grab a copy of my book – The Complete Guide to Building a £70K HR Consultancy – and discover how to get every lead and client you need.

2️⃣ Apply to Join The Fastlane Formula – so we can work together 1-to-1 to get you earning £70K+ faster (and easier) than going it alone.

Transcript

0:01 Hello there, and welcome back to another episode of Sunday Sessions with me, Nick Poninski. This week's episode is all about time.
0:09 So, time flies, right? We've all heard that one. Or, as the old saying goes, time will fly. Time waits for no one.
0:16 Now, we hear these phrases all the time, but when was the last time you really stopped and asked yourself, how much time have I actually got left?
0:28 Now, not in a grim or morbid way. But in a real, practical way, to how much time have you got left to live, to work, to do what actually matters to you.
0:41 So, you know, let's talk numbers for a second, right? In the UK, the average man, he lives to 74. For the average woman, 80.
0:49 So, depending on your age, you might be thinking 20 years left, 30, maybe 40. I'm 41, which statistically gives me about 33 years.
0:59 And even that is optimistic, because the truth is, the quality of life often dips sharply in that final stretch. Less energy, more health issues, more dependence on others, right?
1:12 So, it's not about how long you've got left to live, necessarily, but it's how long you have left to really live.
1:19 To live, right? To build, to travel, to grow, to do things that matter to you, to work in a way that engages you, makes you happy, makes you proud.
1:30 And if you're a self-employed HR consultant in your 40s, like me, or 50s, or your 50s, let's be honest, you've probably already passed that halfway point, right?
1:41 And I don't say this to alarm you. I say this to wake you up, right? And with that in mind, I've got an exercise for you that I think I want to share with you.
1:53 I did this exercise recently, and it hit me like a ton of bricks in the face. It woke me up.
2:01 And I want the same for you, right? So, I'll talk you through the exercise, and then I'll tell you where to find it.
2:07 So, someone gave me a piece of paper, and it had 80 boxes on it, right? And each box represented a year of my life.
2:17 And I was told to cross out one box for every year that I had already lived. And I sat there with my pen and paper, and I gave it and took my time and crossed them out.
2:26 41 boxes. Gone. 41 years. Blacked out. Over halfway. It's, it's, it's, yeah. As I sat there, after I'd filled out all these 40 boxes, it hit me.
2:41 So much time already used up. Not coming back. It's gone. It's been. It's finished. Now, I don't have any regrets.
2:50 I mean, you know, I've had some great moments, right? I've lived, uh, in South Korea. I've traveled Southeast Asia. I've traveled South America, got some great family, uh, great memories with family and friends I've loved.
3:03 I've lost. Um, so yeah, I've had some great moments, but still, it was sobering to sit there with this piece of paper where more than half and half my life has just disappeared.
3:15 And, you know, I think the moment where it was, because it's, it's so sobering because when you see this laid out in front of you, you can't lie to yourself anymore.
3:24 There is no hiding from the truth. You do not have loads of time. You do not have endless amounts of time.
3:31 You just don't. There is a limit and, yeah, time's running out. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. As I say, I just want you, listening along, to have this same realization now.
3:44 Because most people, they are sleepwalking through life. Working in businesses that stress them out. Doing work that doesn't light them up.
3:54 Putting off change because it's easy to say, well, I'll sort it out next week, or next year, or whatever. Some other time.
4:01 And I don't want that for you. Right? So, here's what I want you to do. I've got a document in the show notes.
4:09 It's the exact same exercise that I went through. So, you can get there. You can download it for free. It's available for you.
4:16 Just click there. Download it. One box for each year of your life. And when you open that document, mark the year that you'd like to retire.
4:25 Sixty, sixty-five, whatever feels right. And then cross out every year you've already lived. And then sit with that gap. Whatever it is, sit there with it.
4:37 Because that's what you've got left. That's your window. No replay, no sequel, no, you know, it's not coming back. It's been, it's gone, it ain't coming back.
4:47 That's all you've got left. That's what So, if something in your life or your business isn't working, and you know it isn't, then putting off change is the worst thing you can do, right?
4:58 Because that small window, it ain't getting any bigger. Later, and we all know this, later inevitably becomes bigger. It becomes never, unless later actually becomes now.
5:10 So, yeah, what I want for you, as I say, is I don't want you to miss this opportunity. Another year's gone, nothing's changed.
5:20 So, do the interview. Do the exercise. Sit with whatever feeling it brings up and if something feels off, listen to that feeling.
5:28 If you've been waiting for the right time to fix your business, to change direction, to finally back yourself, get some support, whatever it is, this is it.
5:38 It's now. Now is the time to take action. So, yeah. Download the, the, the, the document, the, download the document from the show notes, cross out the years that you've lived, mark the year you want to retire, look at what's left, and then ask yourself seriously, what do I want to do with the time that
5:58 I've got left. And honestly, once you've seen this, you can't unsee it. When I did this exercise, it was over six weeks ago, and it is still sitting with me and I can't.
6:09 I cannot stop thinking about it. And now I'm feeling things, I'm feeling fear, urgency, clarity, relief, awareness, and hopefully you will have those feelings too.
6:22 Whatever those feelings are, use them. Now if you need help figuring out what needs to change, a few weeks back there was a Circle of Life episode, right?
6:32 You can go and listen to that, do your Circle of Life, understand what's working, what isn't working. That will help you understand what you need to change and how it needs to change, and But then you can go and make the changes.
6:44 But either way, this exercise, whether or not you go and do the Circle of Life or whatever, this exercise will hopefully give you a bit of a wake-up call and help you realize how precious time actually is.
6:55 Because as I say, it ain't coming back. It's been, it's gone, it's over. All that you've got left is the decision to make to what you want to do with the rest of the time that you have left.
7:07 So, yeah, get to work. Make the changes. Become the person and the HR consultant that you want to be. Build the business that you want to have.
7:17 And, and, yeah, if this exercise resonates with you, please do feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or reply to one of my emails, whatever, and share your thoughts with me.
7:27 Uhm, but either way, whether or not you share thoughts with me, uhm, I do want to say thank you for taking the time to listen along to me.
7:34 If this has stirred something in you, just don't ignore it. And, as always, because it's Sunday, embrace the change, because how we change is how we grow.