If you have recently said, “I have so much on my plate,” know that you are not alone.

This phrase has become the anthem of the modern professional, the entrepreneur juggling opportunities, the corporate high flyer attending endless meetings, and the community leader trying to serve everywhere at once.

It is the excuse that people who measure their worth by activity rather than results repeat almost daily.

You know the routine. You are busy from the crack of dawn until well past midnight.

You join committees in your neighborhood and sit on every board in your church.

You volunteer for Toastmasters, Rotary, Lions, or whatever group sends you an invitation.

In your workplace, you are hailed as a tireless workaholic.

You wear the label proudly, convinced that busyness equals importance. You take files home. You sacrifice weekends. You boast that you earn every dime through sweat and effort.

Yet in the quiet moments, there is another truth you cannot escape. Your spouse hardly sees you. Your children spend more time with the driver than with their parent.

You miss birthdays, school events, and those little conversations that shape memories. You are always busy, yet you feel strangely absent.

And the tragedy is this:

“I have so much on my plate” is the #1 reason you don’t:
➥ Write a book.
➥ Start a podcast.
➥ Create a course.
➥ Begin a newsletter.
➥ Grow in your career.
➥ Kickstart a YouTube channel.
➥ Know anything outside your industry.

That excuse keeps you trapped in a cycle of activity without growth. You are constantly busy, yet not truly advancing.

You measure contribution by effort instead of results, so your superiors see you as hardworking but not strategic.

You collect your monthly paycheck but rarely get tapped for mission-critical projects. You are visible, but not valued at the highest level.

I have worked with countless professionals who once wore “I have so much on my plate” like a badge of honor.

Some resisted change for years, clinging to activity like a lifeboat. But when they finally dared to reduce what was on their plate, something remarkable happened.

Their careers soared. They launched projects that once seemed impossible. And they often turned to me saying, “Paul, thank you for not giving up on me.”

The truth is sobering: people complain less about money than about time. Yet time and money are two sides of the same coin.

You can spend thirty-five years trading your time to earn money for someone else. Or you can learn to reclaim time and multiply money by creating value.

I spent over twenty-five years working for national brands.

You may have spent three decades working for global giants like JP Morgan Chase and General Electric. There is nothing wrong with that choice.

But what broke my heart was watching colleagues retire after decades of hard work, feeling empty, cheated, and shortchanged—with no one to blame but themselves.

Over 99 percent of workers end up in that same situation. The problem is not only poor priority management. It is also the failure to recognize and catch the big trends. They acquired no new skills outside their industry.

One of my students once confessed, “Paul, I work so hard and I have nothing to show for it. Every day I come home tired and exhausted.” He was trying to chase fifteen rabbits at the same time, catching none.

The cure? Narrow your focus. The more you narrow your focus, the more you accomplish. Growth requires subtraction before addition.

You must clear space before you can build capacity. Activity for activity’s sake only creates exhaustion, not legacy.

Most of us live life to please others—our bosses, our committees, our communities—while neglecting ourselves.

We fill our plates with obligations that bring applause from outsiders but no alignment with our inner purpose. That is why so many professionals struggle with burnout, regret, and financial insecurity. They confuse movement with meaning. They confuse busyness with business.

Imagine if you cleared even 20 percent of what is currently on your plate. That single shift could unlock the time to finally write your book, launch that course, or grow your influence through a newsletter or YouTube channel.

These platforms are not distractions; they are leverage points. They turn your ideas into impact, your knowledge into income, and your years of experience into enduring legacy.

I am not advocating that you abandon responsibility or neglect commitments. But I am challenging you to reassess whether the weight on your plate is truly yours to carry.

Much of what fills your calendar serves other people’s agendas, not your destiny. Every yes to an unnecessary task is a no to your vision.

So here is the pivotal question: are you willing to stop being busy and start being strategic? Because your legacy depends not on how much you carried, but on what you created.

I have spent years coaching experts, executives, and entrepreneurs to escape the prison of busyness. I have seen what happens when they finally reduce the clutter.

Their voices get amplified. Their impact multiplies. Their families rediscover them. Their bank accounts grow in proportion to their clarity.

They trade activity for achievement and discover that fulfillment is built not from doing more, but from doing what matters most.

The world does not need more people with overloaded plates. It needs more people who know how to prioritize the few things that make the biggest difference.

So let me leave you with this:

Are you still content saying, “I have so much on my plate”—or will you finally clear space to build a legacy?

👉 If you are ready to reclaim your time, redesign your focus, and write the book that will outlive you, let’s talk today.

👉 Start building your empire today. Explore my “How Experts Build Empire Course For Newbies” and finally create something that lasts.