There is nothing wrong with a person consciously deciding that they are going to spend a large portion on their time on things that are self-gratifying and that have little impact elsewhere. However, most people tend to get caught up in all of the low impact things without regard or self-awareness of the opportunity cost, and these are the folks that can really do a 180 once they become self-aware and then focus their passion on the areas where they can have the highest level of impact on themselves, their family, and society.
Spending time on the things we like to do is important, however we must try to align what we like to do with what we need to do. The most impactful leaders I can think of put limits on low impact things (or avoid them all together) like watching TV, playing video games, social media, and other addictive tendencies like knowing everything about every single sports team. These are all things that we have no ability to impact. Does it help your family, society, or yourself grow in any way? Can you find other uses of your time that will propel the level of impact you are making and that you can become passionate about? If you can, try to limit the things that only have the benefit of self-satisfaction. They are important, but there are other things that can provide the same (or even higher) level of self-satisfaction if you push yourself to change.
What are the top three things you do today that they are having minimal impact and maybe even a negative impact? If you have made that list, start changing behavior to replace those items with other things that you can become passionate about and that will have a high level of positive impact. Other than our level of character, how we spend our time is the number one difference maker in the results we will achieve as leaders.
Devoted to Leadership 