Here are a few projects on my plate: I work 40 hours a week representing a small software company named Microsoft, I work on this productivity website, My daily commute is 2 hours and 100 miles roundtrip, I have a successful Network Marketing business, and I have my own Computer Consulting company, I do at least 1 hour of personal development everyday, and sleep for about 4 hours a day. So when someone asks me how I’ve been, I think about it, and I tell them “I’ve been good, just really busy.”

A few days ago, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. After the pleasantries, I asked her how she has been. She got a frustrated look and said, “I’ve been good, just really busy.” Then she asked me how I have been, and I thought about all of my projects, and also said, “I’ve been good, just really busy”. Now this is the part that I found interesting, she gave me a look in which I knew that she did not believe me. That’s what got me thinking about this topic.

If you ask anyone, at anytime, how they are doing, you will always get the standard response, “I’ve been good, just really busy.” My question is simple, are people really as busy as they claim? There are several reasons why people give the default answer of “I’ve been busy.” Lets take a look at a few of the top reasons:

• Subconscious: Again, my favorite topic, the Subconscious. The subconscious works by believing in repeated messages. If you always say “I’m Busy”, “I’m Busy”, “I’m Busy”, can you guess what the message that your subconscious receives… “I’m Busy”. Again, it doesn’t matter if you are telling the truth or not, to the subconscious, everything is the truth. So not only do you convince yourself that you are busy, but you feel better about yourself.
• Ego: Everyone likes to feel good about themselves, right? So if you say to someone “I’ve been busy”, even though they most likely won’t believe you, it still feels better than saying “I’ve been slacking off and watching TV.”
• Confusion With Being Productive: There is a huge difference in being “Busy” and bring “Productive”. Playing video games all day will keep me busy, but not productive.
• General Answer: For most people, saying “I’ve been Busy” is just a quick standard response.

Now, instead of saying that I’ve just “been busy”, and sending a message to my subconscious to find ways to prove itself right and focuses on keeping me “busy”, I say that I’ve “been productive”. My subconscious now focuses on finding ways on making me more productive.

Give it a try. For the next few people you meet, take a look at their reactions when you simply say that you are “busy” compared to if you say that you are “productive.” If you say you are busy, they will just pass it off as a standard answer, but if you say that you have been productive, they will ask you what you have been up to and show more interest in you.

Right now I am at the Dentist Office typing this on my laptop. While in the waiting room, I looked around and saw 5 people patiently sitting. Of the 5, one was reading a magazine, one was reading a romance novel, and the other three were sitting around frustrated because their appointment was at 11 and it was now 11:15.

Does this sound familiar? You go to an appointment, wait about 10-15 minutes in the waiting room, and then another 10-15 minutes for the doctor to actually shop up, about a total time of half an hour. The thing that amazes me is that everyone goes to their appointment, knowing that they will be waiting for at least a half hour, yet they don’t do anything about the time lost.

Here are some ideas of what you could do with that extra half hour of waiting time:

• Read a book on personal development. Sure romance novels and magazines might be entertaining, but do they even bring you 1 step closer to your goals?
• Don’t listen to music. MP3 Players have become very inexpensive; why not listen to some of your favorite personal development audios. I would highly recommend the Creative Zen Stone, very reasonably priced at around $40. There are hundreds of sites online where you can even download free personal development or motivational MP3s. For more information on this, read the following post: Personal Development Where Ever You Go
• Make those calls. Does your to-do list include making any phone calls? This is a great time to make those calls.
• Make contacts. Do you have your own business, home-based business, or Network Marketing business? Well this is a perfect time to talk to other patients waiting about your opportunity.
• Get some work done. Why not bring your laptop or your other work-related tools? That’s what I’m doing right now

Next time you have an appointment, don’t just sit there looking at all the pretty pictures in the waiting room, or all of the nice, shiny, tools in the doctor’s room. Instead, put some time into your greatest investment, you.

3 years ago I went to my first personal development seminar geared towards Network Marketing and Home Based Businesses. The guest of honor was Jeffery Combs, world-known personal development author and coach. At the end of the seminar, there was an offer to purchase all of his personal development tools for the price of $400, half off the regular price of $800. Having already paid $50 for the seminar (looking back, I wish all of my seminars I have gone to were this cheap) and I was not looking forward to spending anymore money. Can you already see my error in my judgment? After I had thanked Jeffery for his time and for sharing his story, I was getting ready to walk out the door. Suddenly, I looked over, and saw most of the top leaders purchasing the personal development tools. I knew then that if I wanted to be a leader someday, I must do what the leaders do. I didn’t have the $400, but I did have $200. I spoke to my sponsor and we decided to purchase and share the tools with each other.

I drove around for a week with those $800 tools, still untouched, in the trunk of my car. Yet, another error in my judgment. I thought about how much I had spent on the tools, and how much I had already lost by not listening to them. All the time I spend in my car listening to negatively influential commercials and music didn’t bring me a one step closer to my goals. I pulled over, took out one of the 10 CD sets, and started to play it in my car.
“Mindset Consciousness”, what an incredible title. I had received more than $800 worth of information, in the first 20 minutes alone.

Since then, I have spent thousands of dollars for personal development tools. The majority of time I am in my car now, I am listening to these tools. At first it was very strange, to not listen to music, but once I got used to it, the results spoke for themselves. It was a very small sacrifice to make initially; it’s also a sacrifice that few are willing to make. I have suggested listening to personal development tools over music to many people, and few ever have. They can’t live without music they all say. Now who is making an error in judgment?

I’m not suggesting you never listen to music. Music is an art and should be appreciated as such. But start slow, maybe you listen to a personal development CD for 10 minutes a day. You are still taking a step towards your goals. Simple disciplines like this are what will start to set you apart from others.