The Time Challenge

Welcome to this MAD Coaching Habit from Difference Makers by John MichaelThis is Kim’s Time Challenge Story.differencemakers.substack.comThe Breaking Point: When Time Slips Through Your Fingers.I glanced at my watch—10:47 p.m. Another day evaporated, and my to-do list was still glaring at me like a judgmental boss. The kids were finally in bed, Sarah was reading in the living room, and the house was quiet except for the faint barking of our dogs in the backyard. But the quiet didn’t bring peace—it merely amplified the noise in my head.Mortgage payments. School fees. That delayed project at work. The missing hamsters. Boy, that had caused a meltdown. Everything seemed to pile up and never, ever, get put away. No matter how much I tried to organise and plan, the days slipped through my fingers like water. I felt like those hamsters on their wheel, working harder and harder but getting nowhere. Maybe they’d finally seen sense and decided that enough was enough.I rubbed my chest, the dull ache making its presence known again. It wasn’t the first time. The doctor said it was stress-related, but knowing that didn’t make it better.“Kim?” Sarah’s voice interrupted my spiralling thoughts. She was standing in the doorway, her Bible tucked under her arm. “Are you okay?”“Just tired,” I replied.She walked over and sat beside me, her expression soft but serious. “I’ve been thinking… Maybe you should go to the men’s group at church next week. It might give you some perspective.”I shook my head. “I don’t have time for that, Sarah. My plate is already full.”“That’s exactly why you need it,” she said, her voice gentle but firm. “You’re trying to control everything, but you can’t. You’re not supposed to.”I stifled the snarky reply forming before it escaped my lips. Her words stung and they stuck with me as I lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling. I thought about my chest pain, the constant pressure at work, and the nagging feeling that I was failing as a husband and father. I wasn’t managing my time. Time was managing me.☀️✨🌟✨☀️A New Perspective: The Brain, the Bible, and the Clock.I wasn’t sure why I showed up at the men’s group the following week. Maybe it was Sarah’s persistence, to keep the fragile peace, or maybe it was that lingering pain in my chest. It would be good to get a man’s Input. Either way, I found myself in the church meeting room, surrounded by a dozen guys who all looked like they had their lives together.Dave, a guy I vaguely recognised from Sunday mornings, greeted me with a handshake. “Glad you made it, Kim. How’s life treating you?”“Busy,” I replied.He smiled knowingly. “Aren’t we all?”The evening began with introductions, followed by a discussion led by Mr. Greene, a retired businessman who clearly had wisdom to spare. “Let’s talk about time,” he said. “It’s the one thing we all have the same amount of—24 hours a day. Yet some people seem to make it count, while others let it slip away. Why is that?”The room was silent.Mr. Greene continued. “Here’s the truth: You can’t manage time. You can’t create it, save it, or find it. What you can do is manage yourself and how you spend the time you’ve been given. That’s what it means to be a Time Steward.”Time Steward. The phrase hit me like a ton of bricks.“I spent years trying to control time,” Mr. Greene said. “I thought if I worked harder, planned better, and pushed myself more, I could conquer it. But all I did was burn out. I had to learn to let go of control and align my time with what really mattered—what was required of me, what aligned with my purpose, and what I truly desired.”He paused and looked around the room. “When we’re intentional about how we use our time, it transforms not only our schedules but our minds. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That’s not just spiritual advice—it’s neuroscience. Your brain has the capacity to change through small, intentional habits.”📘📗📙📕📚Rewiring Time: Becoming a Time Steward with the RAD Habit.The next morning, I sat at the kitchen table, staring at my overflowing to-do list. Mr. Greene’s words echoed in my mind: You can’t manage time, but you can manage how you choose top spend it.I grabbed a blank piece of paper and divided it into three columns:* Required: What must I do today?* Aligned: What moves me closer to my purpose?* Desired: What brings me joy or fulfilment?At first, it was hard. I noticed how much of my time was spent on things that didn’t fit into any of those categories—busywork, distractions, tasks that could so easily be delegated. Slowly, I began to cut those out and focus on the things that truly mattered.I also deci