Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.

The real question is what are you doing with your time?

Each day the average American spends between one and two hours driving to and from work. Yearly we spend well over 300 hours of our lives in our car. It’s the equivalent of 38 work days of driving. Another way to look at it is 13 straight 24 hour days.

[shareable]Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.[/shareable]

We Spend a Lot of Time Commuting

The average commute in the U.S is 45 minutes, with New Yorkers having the longest trek to work with an average 73-minute commute. Chicagoans came in second spending 64 minutes a day commuting, followed by San Francisco residents with 56 minutes, while those in Los Angeles have an average 55-minute commute, according to CNN Money.

Do you spend a lot of time in your car or on public transportation commuting? I know I do. Since we spend a lot of time commuting back and forth to work, again, I ask, what are you doing with your time? Are you listening to satellite radio, your favorite radio station, sports talk, or your favorite playlist on your smartphone?  Here’s an idea: Turn your commute into a classroom.

Turn Your Commute into a Classroom

What if I told you that you can learn anything you want during your commute if you’re willing to turn your commute into a classroom. Besides listening to talk radio or jamming to music, which there is nothing wrong with music, you could get a quality education.

Books (especially audiobooks) have changed my life. Since I’m a long time subscriber to Audible, audiobooks turned my car rides and flights into mobile classrooms. Darren Hardy, the creator of Success Magazine, is well known for saying that “his car doesn’t move without gas in the tank and an instructional cd in the player.”

Instead of complaining about your commute, why not use your time wisely and invest in learning something new. The time you spend driving or riding can help you earn the equivalent of college credits in biblical studies, leadership, relationships, management, parenting, a second language.

[shareable]You can learn anything you want during your commute if you’re willing to turn your commute into a classroom.[/shareable]

Use the Time to Become an Expert

Since the time will pass anyway, use it to become an expert. Any subject you find interesting can help you receive more than enough instruction to become an expert in that particular field. The amazing thing is you do not have to find the extra time. It’s time you would spend driving or riding anyway.

Brian Tracy says:

If you listen to instructional CDs as you drive each year it would be equivalent of 2 semesters of an advanced degree in college. So, if you drive around 12,000 miles per year (on average) that would be 300 hours of feeding time.

All the information you need to succeed is already out there. It’s up to you to make the choice to listen. If you do, after one year of listening, you’ll have the equivalent of two advanced college courses.

[shareable]If you listen to instructional CDs as you drive each year it would be equivalent of 2 semesters of an advanced degree in college. [/shareable]

Resources to Get You Started

Below are my top 3 recommended audio resources:

1. Mars Hill Mobile App – When you download this app you will have access to the latest audio & video content from my sermon content, plus devotionals, and answers to frequently answered questions. After you’ve downloaded and enjoyed the content, you can share it with your friends via Twitter, Facebook, or email.
2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – Outliers takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.
3. Instinct by Bishop TD Jakes – Modern life can seem like being lost in a jungle. With distractions and dangers emerging from every direction, it’s easy to lose focus. Over time, we lose touch with one of our most powerful, purposeful, God-given attributes – the desire to be fruitful and multiply, what Bishop T. D. Jakes calls our “instinct for increase.” Combining historical, cultural, and personal examples with biblical insights, in Instinct Bishop Jakes outlines how to rediscover your natural aptitudes and reclaim the wisdom of your past experiences.

[shareable]All the information you need to succeed is already out there. It’s up to you to make the choice to listen.[/shareable]

Are you ready to turn your commute into a classroom?