Podcast Summary

Motivation with Brendon Burchard

Episode: "I Don't Have Time" Is the Lie You've Been Telling Yourself
Host: Brendon Burchard
Date: April 3, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Brendon Burchard dismantles the common excuse: "I don't have time," challenging listeners to reclaim hours lost to distraction and aimlessness. He shares actionable strategies for increasing productivity, reveals how old stories from our past hold us back, and introduces mindset shifts critical for making time and pursuing our true ambitions. The episode’s core purpose is to show that time management is self-mastery, and that the stories we tell ourselves directly impact our outcomes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Distraction Trap and the Myth of “No Time”

• Programming Pleasure Before Effort:
  • Brendon explains that many people invert the order of effort and reward, seeking pleasure (TV, social media) before they've earned it through meaningful work.

    "You're programming the pleasure and the reward with none of the effort. And then you're shocked you don't have the self discipline that you desire." (00:20)

• Calculating Lost Time:
  • Brendon quantifies the time lost to distraction: just two more hours of focus each day equals one extra “workday” (eight hours) per week, which adds up to 52 extra workdays per year—a month and a half of productivity.
  • If the average American’s four hours of daily distraction is reclaimed, it could mean three extra months of time each year.

    "I have 52 more work days than you in a given year. That's a month and a half. For those who are tracking." (02:00)

• The Real Cost of Distraction:
  • Distraction breeds not just lost time, but also feelings of being trapped and unfulfilled.

    "The more you are slave to distraction, the more you feel trapped in life." (00:55)

2. Simple Strategies to Win Back Time

• Rescheduling Distractions:
  • Brendon suggests batching pleasures—such as television—to certain days, transforming them into rewards rather than defaults.

    "Just don't watch television till Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Let it be your payoff." (01:04)

• Replace Aimlessness with Focus:
  • He encourages listeners to replace unstructured, aimless time with focused activity, not just through discipline but by crafting a day that has intention from the very morning.

    "In the morning, I didn't look at my key priorities... I just kind of went through the motions today and I forgot the major things I was supposed to do." (05:20)

• "Command Your Time!"
  • Brendon stresses the importance of agency: time is not something that happens to us, but something we can command.

    "Let me command my time. Time doesn't have you. You have time. Because don't forget, you humans made up time." (07:00)

3. Shifting Mindsets: From “What If” to “What I Want Is”

• How Old Stories Trap Us:
  • When aiming to grow or change, our old fears and limiting beliefs often surface in the form of negative “what if” scenarios.

    "Your old story almost always emerges like this: What if? And then you fill in the blank with a negative, what if?" (08:20)

• The Trap of Rumination:
  • Brendon notes that excessive rumination leads to a downward spiral, preventing progress and leading to dissatisfaction or depression.

    "The longer you ruminate without the personal power there, the more it bums you out and you stop." (11:40)

• Breakthrough Technique—Seek Clarity:
  • The strategy for breaking the cycle: replace “What if [negative]...” with “What I want is...”
  • This forward-focused clarity transforms motivation, ignites courage, and unlocks purpose.

    "Your what ifs have killed your progress. It’s hard for people to acknowledge that, but when you do, you’re like, oh, my God, my whole life stunned by one phrase. What I want is—that is where power comes from. Because that is called clarity." (13:10)

  • Clarity isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about awakening vision and agency.

    "When you give a human clarity, you give them courage and purpose. When you give them clarity, you give them confidence. When you give them clarity, the breakthrough happens..." (13:46)

4. Redefining Decompression and Presence

• Rethinking Leisure:
  • For those who argue social media is their decompression, Brendon counters with more restorative alternatives—walks, yoga, time with family—emphasizing that our usual escapes may not nourish us.

    "I know some people say... 'Brendon, I really love that. That’s my decompression.' I’m like, there's better decompression. Try sex. Okay. Or... go for a walk, breathe. Go for a jog, do that yoga, sit in your red light." (08:00)

• True Freedom vs. Distraction:
  • There’s a difference between the feeling of freedom that comes from aimless distraction and the fulfillment of intentional living.

    "Aimlessness never feels like a payoff. Freedom does. But not aimlessness, not distraction." (09:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Earning Distraction:

  "What if you had to earn a little more of your distractions versus having distractions and then hoping to work?" (00:01)

• On Reclaiming time:

  "Two hours more a day...gets you a month and a half of eight-hour workdays. I don't know if that gets in your gut and fires you up, but I do." (04:30)

• On Commanding your Day:

  "I never ever, ever, ever, ever say, I'm so busy, I go, let me command my time." (06:40)

• On Facing Old Stories:

  "What if? Followed by a negative...most of us are pinging back to a reference point in the past. An old narrative, an old chapter, an old situation, an old event that isn't here." (09:30)

• On Shifting Mindset:

  "The greats of all time...looked out and they went and they threw [the spear of purpose] as far as they could, and then they marched to it, picked it up again, threw it as far as they could. That's what they did. They didn't go backwards." (12:00)

• On Clarity as Power:

  "What I want is—that is where power comes from. Because that is called clarity." (13:10)

Important Timestamps

• Distraction as Modern Default, and Its Impact (00:00–02:45)
• How to Reclaim Workdays with Small Changes (02:00–03:30)
• Redefining Decompression and Focus (07:30–09:00)
• The “What if” Spiral and Old Stories (09:15–11:50)
• Breakthrough Mindset: Moving to “What I Want Is” and Clarity (12:00–14:10)

Conclusion

Brendon Burchard’s episode is an urgent call to challenge time scarcity thinking. By auditing distractions, reclaiming focused hours, and shifting our internal dialogue from anxiously projecting negative “what ifs” to boldly declaring “what I want is,” Brendon empowers listeners to craft a life full of progress, presence, and joy. The episode’s tone is direct, encouraging, and slightly humorous, packed with memorable metaphors and empowering reframes—ideal for anyone ready to trade aimlessness for achievement.