It Is What It Is...

Photo credit to Nicola

The nature of what I do and where my clients are located is such that I am on the road just about every week. 

Which means, I spend a lot of time on planes. A lot.

And even more than the time I spend on planes, is the "incidental" time that I spend sitting in airports waiting for my flight (never mind the time getting to and from the airport). 

This incidental time increases materially when there is inclement weather. Like today, for example, as I sit in the airport in Boston, waiting for my flight out. (Flight delay = 2 hours and counting.)

In my early days, I'd get wound up about the wasted time. How I could be doing something else. How I could be at my destination already, but instead I'm still sitting at the departing airport.

I soon realized though, that it just is what it is. That you can't control everything. That, sometimes, shit happens. And instead of fuming, you learn to make the most of the time. 

Catch up on email. Write that article you've been putting off. Make those calls to prospects. Catch up with an existing customer. Plan out your goals for the next year. 'Sharpen the saw' by reading a good book. Educate yourself on a critical topic that could move the professional needle. Watch YouTube clips of The Great Dave Letterman.

Or just chill. Relax. Reflect. Remove yourself, for a few minutes, from the hysteria of day to day life.

Much like life, you won't always have control. Much like life, you won't always get to move as efficiently as you'd like. It just is what it is.

So, ultimately, what you do with that 'incidental' time is entirely up to you.