Smashing the Reset Button on How You Think + Talk About Time

What if the most limited resource you have isn't actually as scarce as you think?

In this episode, George and Liz tackle one of the most complicated relationships we all have: our relationship with time. How we define it, how we talk about it, and how those words shape whether time feels like a gift or an enemy. This isn't about productivity hacks. It's about fundamentally rewiring how you experience the hours of your life.

Why Time Deserves Its Own Conversation

Time touches everything. Morning routines. Seasons of waiting. Being present. Understanding the timing of your life. Every topic George and Liz have covered on this podcast eventually circles back to time.

George explains why this conversation excites him:

"A healthy relationship with time impacts all of our past conversations and elevates all of our future conversations. This topic is a fulcrum point."

He's honest about his own history with it. There were moments in his life where time seemed like something that just passed by. Something unimportant. Something he blatantly wasted.

"Frankly, as I sit here today at almost 53 years old, that freaking makes me sad. That I was ever at a point where those were the words I would use around time."

But there's hope in sharing this conversation. If these episodes help someone not waste time in their own life, then all the time George wishes he could buy back but can't will be worth it.

"This conversation is an investment in the next set of years for myself, but also an entire lifetime for future humans."

Counting Your Summers

Something shifted for George about 30 to 45 days before this recording. The same conversation kept happening in his life.

He was sitting with a bunch of friends, and they were talking about being "the same age." George looked at his friend and asked how old he was. 43. George stopped him.

"We're not the same age. I'm a decade older than you. I have a 10-year head start on who you are and who you can become."

One of the women asked if growing out his goatee and long hair was a midlife crisis.

His response: "Honey, didn't you just realize I'm past my midlife? I didn't have a midlife crisis. I didn't date anybody that wasn't my wife. I didn't buy a sports car."

Then he got real about what changed his perspective.

"On a good day, I might have 30 summers left, and I want to grow my freaking hair out, so leave me alone. On a bad day, I might have 5 summers left."

When you start counting in chunks of 10, your brain does interesting things around the time that has been and the time that remains.

"All of a sudden, your brain starts to just do these interesting things around the time that has been and the time that remains. How do I squeeze the maximum ability out of every moment that I'm gonna have moving forward?"

Living a Story You're Writing

Liz shares how her relationship with time has evolved. She's become more aware of the seasons of life. Something she didn't focus on when she was younger.

"As time goes on, you are able to see your life less in micro moments and more in chapters. You start to see beginnings and endings."

This awareness is both a gift and a burden.

"Now that I'm aware that I'm living a story, not just waking up haphazardly and breathing, I have the option to architect an actual narrative arc in my life. It makes me more purposeful about it, but it also gives me a little bit more anxiety about it."

George's brain explodes when he hears this.

"We're living a story. We're living a story that we're writing along the way. Ladies and gentlemen, are you just jotting down the cliff notes? Are you trying to write your life in shorthand? Can anybody even read your writing? Or are you just sitting there looking at an empty page, leaving the pen just sit on the table?"

Your story is a one-time thing. You could be crafting the most amazing novel that everybody in the future wants to read. But it's completely up to you and how you use the time to write the story you want to live.

Redefining Time

George goes deep on how we can think about time differently.

"Time isn't just about clocks and calendars. However, if you ask mere mortal humans, I think that's what we immediately correlate it to."

He breaks down what time actually is:

Time is a fundamental concept that helps us understand the sequence of events in our lives from the past to the present and into the future. In everyday life, we use time to organize our activities and make sense of our experiences.

Scientifically, time is considered the fourth dimension. Einstein's theory of relativity shows that it's not absolute, but affected by gravity and velocity.

Philosophically, time raises intriguing questions about its nature and perception.

The key insight: "Time is a construct that we humans have created."

If that's true, George asks a critical question: Why is it not always a gift?

He quotes Bill Keane: "Yesterday's the past. Tomorrow's the future. But today is a gift. That's why they call it the present."

And Steve Jobs: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

George adds his own spin: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it not living a life at all."

The Words We Use

How we talk about time shapes our entire relationship with it. George identifies five different ways people frame time through language.

Time as a limited resource. When we view time as precious, we're most likely to value and use it wisely. Phrases like "time is of the essence" or "time waits for no one" highlight the urgency of using time effectively.

Time as an enemy. If we frequently talk about "running out of time" or "never having enough time," we view time as an adversary. This mindset leads to stress, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed.

Time as a gift. Seeing time as a gift encourages gratitude and mindfulness. When we talk about "cherishing the moment" or "making the most of our time," we foster a positive relationship.

Time as a tool. Viewing time as a tool for achieving goals can be empowering. Phrases like "making time" or "finding time" suggest we have control over how we use it.

Time as a journey. Talking about time as a journey highlights personal growth and progress. Phrases like "taking it one day at a time" or "time heals all wounds" reflect a perspective that values learning and transformation.

George's challenge to listeners: Which phrases do you want to program into your life? And which ones do you need to burn and get rid of as fast as possible?

The Three Words Killing Liz's Relationship With Time

Liz decided to observe herself in her natural habitat leading up to this episode. What she discovered was revealing.

"The thing I noticed the most is how I talked about time. And it was three words that I realized have really had the greatest negative impact on my relationship with time."

Those three words: I only have.

I only have 15 minutes. I only have 1 hour. I only have 2 hours. I only have today.

"I realized I had a scarcity mindset around time. And if you're always telling yourself that you only have blank, that's how you're gonna operate."

She caught herself doing it that very morning. She'd been puttering around with her new morning routine, glanced at the clock, and thought: Ugh, I only have 30 minutes.

Then she stopped herself.

"I have 30 minutes. I have 30 whole ass minutes. I had been going around for about an hour already. I'm so programmed to act as if I don't ever have enough."

George points out the simple fix: "You only need to remove one word. The only."

The difference between "I only have 15 minutes" and "I have 15 minutes" is enormous. One creates pressure and scarcity. The other creates possibility.

Liz went deeper. She realized that sometimes her resistance had nothing to do with time itself. The "I only have" framing was masking resistance to whatever came next, whether that was a task she didn't want to do or going to the gym.

"If we are a little bit more curious about where our resistance is, it can be very illuminating about what the truth is of a given moment."

George's Grounding Thought

Liz asks what single thought keeps George looking at time the right way.

His answer goes back to when he was 18 and a half. The military experience. Breaking out in hives. 13 hours from not being on this planet. Getting medevaced off a ship where the number one boiler exploded.

Since that time, he's always viewed time as a precious commodity. And he's run scenarios in his head that might sound strange.

"I've run the scenarios of the fact that my life could end today. My life could end tomorrow. I'm so okay with if it ended. Now I don't want it to end. But because of this perspective, I think it's why I wake up every day how I wake up and show up how I show up."

If this was the last game he played and somebody was looking at the highlight reel, he wants them to say: Homeboy left it all out on the field.

"But that's every day for me."

The Four-Part Framework

George offers a practical framework for improving your relationship with time.

1. Prioritize and focus. Start by identifying what's most important to you. Whether it's family, career, health, or personal growth. Once you know your priorities, focus on the tasks that align with them.

"Do you even know the answer to that? If I ask you, what's the most important thing to you, can you answer it?"

2. Reflect and learn. Spend a few minutes at the end of each day reflecting on how you used your time and what you'd like to improve. Use your reflections to adjust your approach and make small incremental improvements.

3. Set clear goals. Define goals and break them down into smaller actionable steps. Allocate time to work on them regularly. These become your habits. Your habits align to where you're trying to get.

"Because it's 1% better each and every day, one step at a time, you're on your way."

4. Eliminate time wasters. Identify the activities in your life that consume time without adding any value. Like excessive social media use or unproductive meetings. Reduce or eliminate these to free up time for more meaningful activities.

George recommends watching the TEDx talk "The Battle for Your Time: Exposing the Costs of Social Media" as a next action.

Quotable Moments

"We're living a story that we're writing along the way. Are you just jotting down the cliff notes? Are you trying to write your life in shorthand? Or are you just sitting there looking at an empty page?"

"On a good day, I might have 30 summers left. On a bad day, I might have 5 summers left."

"Time is a construct that we humans have created. If that's true, why is it not always a gift?"

"I have 30 minutes. I have 30 whole ass minutes."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it not living a life at all."

"If this was the last game I played and somebody was looking at the highlight reel, they'd be like, homeboy left it all out on the field. But that's every day for me."

Your One Thing

George's takeaway: Time is a man-made construct, which means we have far more control over our relationship with it than we realize. Start counting your summers. When you break your remaining time into chunks of 10, everything shifts. The question becomes: How do I squeeze the maximum ability out of every moment moving forward?

Liz's takeaway: Pay attention to how you talk about time. If you're constantly saying "I only have," you're operating from scarcity. Remove the word "only" and watch what happens. You don't only have 30 minutes. You have 30 minutes. That one word changes everything.

Reflection Questions

1. How many summers do you have left? When you count them out, how does that change your perspective on what matters?
2. What words do you use when you talk about time? Are they framing time as a gift, a tool, or an enemy?
3. Where in your life are you using "I only have" language? What would change if you removed the word "only"?
4. If you looked at your week honestly, how much time are you spending on activities that add no real value to your life?
5. Are you writing the story of your life, or are you just jotting down cliff notes? What would a full chapter look like?

Ready to go deeper? Press play above and hear George and Liz work through their own complicated relationships with time. This episode lays the foundation for completely rethinking how you define, think about, and talk about one of the most precious resources you have.