Time / Priorities
How many times do we hear someone say "I don't have enough time!"? How many times do we catch ourselves saying that very statement? It is easy to fall into the trap and deceive ourselves into thinking that we do not have enough time, but when you think about it, we all have the same amount of time each day. When we speak the truth, it creates power within our life and the truth is...
It is not that we do not have enough time, it is not a high enough priority.
Try saying that. It is painful, isn't it? We fight against it because we have so conditioned ourselves to believe it, that when we speak the truth, it is uncomfortable.
We all have 24 hours in the day. We all have the time to do many things. The truth is that anything we do has a higher priority than what we chose not to do. We may not do the things we most enjoy. We may not do the things we feel we should, but we do complete what we feel is most important.
Break Your Pattern!
For ten days determine that you will not say, "I do not have enough time" but rather say, "It is not a high enough priority." You might want to be careful about who you say that to, because often people struggle when they hear this truth. The first few days it will feel
awkward, but after a while you will begin to feel better about yourself and others. Why? We are designed to perform our best when we are truthful with ourselves and others.
Speak The Truth!
When we hear ourselves speak the truth, it does one of two things to us. It may make us feel bad initially, and then guilty. If the guilt is justified, then we need to change our priorities. Feeling the guilt initially will force you to really examine your priorities and decide where they should be. Once you get the hang of it, you will often determine "it is truly not a high enough priority," and then feel good about yourself. Since we deceive ourselves on a daily basis, we do not give our bodies and minds the opportunity to be free of unfounded guilt feelings.
Feel Good About Yourself!
The principle of truthfulness in this area of our life allows us to feel confident about what we do and to recognize that we will not complete everything we would like to do. It also frees us in to make certain we get to the great things in life. Take action today; speak the truth and feel good about yourself and others.
Great versus Good
A very powerful principle is shared at Bill Gothard Seminars. He said, "What is the biggest enemy to greatness? It is doing good things." It is a great seminar and we would recommend attending it, if at all possible.
There are so many times that we settle for good things and miss the great things in life. We have found that there are 1,000 things you want to do, 2,000 things others want you to do, and 10,000 things you could be doing. And most of the time they are all good things. Keep focused on the great things and do not allow a good idea to keep you from accomplishing your great actions. Do not settle for good when something great is attainable!
How often do we find that we get caught up in the details of life, or we start so many new things that we do not follow through on the great action. Sometimes we do not even take the time to know the difference between the good and the great things.
Consistency is a very important principle to learn. The great actions are often disguised as hard work or things that we normally do not enjoy. With consistency those actions will turn into the strengths that will help you reach beyond your dreams in every area of your life. Once you start something, finish it. Do not allow yourself to throw away something you do consistently for some great new idea.
Staying consistent in a few things will give us better results than inconsistency in many things. You can accomplish more when you consistently apply good ideas than when you inconsistently apply a number of great ideas.
How Much Talk is Too Much?
"Good morning! Did you have a good weekend?" "Oh, it was great Let me tell you about it!"
Sound familiar? Let's say that you stop and talk to three people a day—on company time—about non-business issues. How much does that cost your career? Over a ten-year period
of time, it will cost 29 weeks of lost work. Since you are talking to another employee, it will cost your company 58 weeks of lost work. At $34 per hour, that's $78,880 in lost productivity.
On the other hand, it must not be assumed that time spent talking to other employees is wasted time. A comfortable, friendly work atmosphere is as much to be desired as an
increased bottom line. Building and maintaining this atmosphere through high levels of communication—even getting to know other employees better through chatting—can have as profound an effect on productivity as spending time with clients or selling.
However, if wasted time detracts from the 20% of time that produces 80% of the results, the cost to the company will be $1,183,200 in lost opportunities. The true cost of lost productivity is impossible to measure. If that ten minutes was invested into talking to or supporting a client or into an additional sales effort, it could result in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company. That ten minutes of extra focus and discipline could result in many great accomplishments, opening the door for a raise or a new opportunity within your company. Don't ever underestimate what a little wasted time will cost you.
Even time-wasters that seem minor add up. They cost you, the team, and the customer. In the end, they can cost someone a job or a promotion. Most people never know on a conscious basis what they have lost. They just have this nagging feeling that they aren't living up to their full potential but don't know why. The difference between achieving your full potential and failing to achieve it may be that ten minutes of wasted time after work, the fifteen minutes it takes you to get started working in the morning, or your 4:55 departure at the end of the day.
Look for the wasted time in your day. Take that extra time to learn something new that would help you to advance to the next level, either of financial success or of interoffice communication. You will be happy you did.
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