I listened to a fascinating podcast with Ken Rideout the other day.

Come again?  Ken who?

Ken Rideout is one of the world’s top over-50 marathon runners (think multiple sub 2hr 30min runs).

And in the podcast he describes his process leading up to a race:

In the case of Tokyo with a 14 hour time change, I need to get there at least 7 days early to get my body and my circadian rhythm on track. I’ve spent 12 weeks devoting so much energy to this I don't want to mess around when I get there. 

I don't make plans to go to dinner with people.  I know I'm selfish.  I'm not a pro runner but to me this is my version of the Olympics.  I’m not there to mess around and have fun.  I just need to be alone by myself.  What other people think doesn’t matter. 

Ken goes on to say that his “blinkers” are so far on that in the 7 days leading up to a race – and even during the race itself – he won’t acknowledge, or even notice, the people, sights, sounds etc of whatever city he’s racing in.

Such is his dedication to getting the job done.

Lots of lessons here for everyone about how to manage distractions in this day and age.

Especially when it comes to having a certain level of ruthlessness.

Doesn’t need to be Ken Rideout levels of ruthlessness.  We’re not all prepping for an extreme endurance event through the ramen bar lined streets of Tokyo.

But if you’re always being dragged from one last-minute meeting to the next by your colleagues or you’re forever in bed after midnight glued to your phone and kicking yourself the next morning for not getting more sleep, you might need to twist your ruthlessness dial up a couple of notches.

You might need take a leaf out of Ken’s book and start saying “No” more often to other people, to work, to your phone and everything else which has the potential to knock you off course.

You might even need to say “no” more often to yourself.

In Day 2 of Time Conqueror, I show you how.

In particular, I share a resource which gives you line-by-line scripts you can use to say no to everything from a meeting, to a coffee, to a “pick your brains” phone call, to a date and beyond.  Even to someone who won’t take no for an answer.

Moreover, Day 2 builds on a concept explored in Day 1.  A concept so important I’d argue it underpins all of your time management wobbles and woes.

Get this concept right and you could start to find time flowing like never before.

Okay.  Enough titillation for one email.

Here’s the link if you want “in”:

https://timeconqueror.followingfulfilment.com

Checkout closes at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm UK time on Friday 24^th November.

Time to spring into action.

 - Tom

p.s. Anyone who joins Time Conqueror before the deadline will receive a valuable audio bonus I recorded recently all about over-thinking.

I'm calling this bonus the Busymind Buster.

But beware:

The production values for this bonus are…how shall I say this?.....

Almost non-existent.

I recorded the audio by the canal.  The wind is howling in the background and there’s even one point where you can hear a boat tootling past.

As you might gather, the audio is completely pared back and off-the-cuff.

So don’t expect any bells & whistles.  If you’re the sort of person who’d rather own a turd coated in glitter than a diamond wrapped in a crumpled copy of last week’s Daily Mirror, this isn’t the bonus for you.

For everyone else:

What you can expect is a short little audio (it clocks in at just under 19 mins) where I spill the beans on a few things that have really helped me (and might help you) when it comes to overthinking less.

Plus I give a couple of extremely practical tips which anyone can use right here, right now to get out of their head and into the world.

One last time:

The only way to get a copy of the Busymind Buster bonus is by joining Time Conqueror before the deadline at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm UK time on Friday 24^th November.

Here’s the link:

https://timeconqueror.followingfulfilment.com

If you've already joined a previous version of Time Conqueror, this bonus is available to you too.  Just reply to this email with the word “gimme!” and I’ll send it right over. 

And if you’d like to re-join Time Conqueror as an alumni for a second time (or, for the keen beans, a third time) just reply to this email with “sign me up!” and I’ll add you to the challenge.

The same deadline (2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm UK time on Friday 24^th November) applies for both.