Learning to use our time wisely can be one of the most critical habits we develop in order to obtain success and happiness in life. It has been said that 80% or our results in life are attributed to only 20% of what we do. In other words, 80% of our time is essentially wasted or not fully capitalized to achieve success. So what are we doing that is hindering us from producing greater results in life? What do we do with the 80% of our time that is not producing results? Finding this out and then changing what we do with it will help us achieve much greater results in life.
Time is an interesting commodity. Each of us has the same amount of it in a day regardless of our background, wealth, education level, social status, etc. Because of this, time can be a great equalizer. Time can be wasted or invested; it can be savored or squandered. Once time is spent, it can never be taken back or reused. How we spend our time determines our outcomes in life. Thus, it is a shame how many of us willfully waste it. Treating time as a precious gift—for that is exactly what it is—will lead us to greater success.
On the radio we hear songs that encourage us to “live like we were dying.” In other words, the singer of the song is prompting us to fully utilize our time as we don’t really know how much of it we have left. Would you spend your time differently if you only had one year to live? What about one month, or week, or day? With this knowledge, I bet just about each of us would spend our time differently than we do today. Thus, this is good advice. If each of us could spend our time with a sense of urgency, realizing at any moment that our time may be up, we would be much better off.
One simple yet important step to take in order to better use our time is to identify how we spend it. Many of us hardly realize how much time we commit to different
things. Literally keeping a log or writing down or tracking how we spend our time for even a few days can reveal some important clues as to how we can more effectively utilize this valuable gift. As we participate in this exercise, we may be surprised to learn what we are in actuality dedicating our time to is different than what we thought or assumed. Having this knowledge will then help us to change and focus on those things that will help us improve our performance and on those things that matter most.
As a simple side note, I’ve observed that more and more often many of us are distracted by the shimmer of today’s entertainment , media, and technology that we waste countless time on things that produce no results or provide any sense of accomplishment or satisfaction in life. Learning to cut out such distractions and eliminating wasted time, though difficult, will only result in better success in life.
Besides identifying the time we are wasting we also need to learn the “20%” that is accomplishing 80% of our results. What are the most effective ways we spend our time? Once we figure out this secret, which hopefully is fairly easy to recognize once we start paying attention, we must start spending more time doing those things. For those who learn to utilize their precious time effectively eventually will come out on top.
So how do you spend your time? Do you truly know? Is 20% of what you are doing really producing 80% of your results? Finding ways to more effectively use your time will produce greater success and satisfaction in life.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
What do we Desire?
“What we insistently desire, overtime, is what we will eventually become and receive.”
Dallin Oaks
A few months ago I listened to a talk about desire. Our desires in life are so important to our success because they motivate what we do and who we become. When we have appropriate desires, they can lead us to success and happiness in life. Likewise, when our greatest desires are not good things or are not inline with what is truly most important in our lives, they will lead us to failure and misery in life.
Desires determine our priorities in life which ultimately lead to our actions and how we spend our time. Our actions and how we spend our time eventually dictates who we become and what we achieve in life. Therefore, we must be careful in what we most strongly desire. Are the things that matter most to us in life at the top of our list of desires?
For example, I believe for many of us our families are very important. If that is the case, is one of our greatest desires in life to have a happy family? If so, what are we willing to give up or sacrifice to obtain it? If our family is truly important to us, our desire to strengthen our family relationships should be sufficiently intense to motivate us to free ourselves from any habit, attitude, or action that will impede our ability to obtain this desire. Indeed, our greatest desires in life will provoke us to sacrifice and give up other things in order to obtain them.
Perhaps we need to readjust our desires. Doing so is not easy but possible. True desires that will motivate us to change cannot be impulsive, temporary, or superficial but must burn deep in our hearts. Changing our desires requires true commitment, effort, and work. As the desires we are trying to put in the forefront of our lives lead us to action, they will begin to take place deeper in our hearts. Having the strength and discipline to forgo strong but lesser wanted desires will help us change and be better people.
So what do we desire? Are our greatest desires those things that are most important to us in our life? We must be mindful of our desires as they will lead us to our success or failure in life.
Dallin Oaks
A few months ago I listened to a talk about desire. Our desires in life are so important to our success because they motivate what we do and who we become. When we have appropriate desires, they can lead us to success and happiness in life. Likewise, when our greatest desires are not good things or are not inline with what is truly most important in our lives, they will lead us to failure and misery in life.
Desires determine our priorities in life which ultimately lead to our actions and how we spend our time. Our actions and how we spend our time eventually dictates who we become and what we achieve in life. Therefore, we must be careful in what we most strongly desire. Are the things that matter most to us in life at the top of our list of desires?
For example, I believe for many of us our families are very important. If that is the case, is one of our greatest desires in life to have a happy family? If so, what are we willing to give up or sacrifice to obtain it? If our family is truly important to us, our desire to strengthen our family relationships should be sufficiently intense to motivate us to free ourselves from any habit, attitude, or action that will impede our ability to obtain this desire. Indeed, our greatest desires in life will provoke us to sacrifice and give up other things in order to obtain them.
Perhaps we need to readjust our desires. Doing so is not easy but possible. True desires that will motivate us to change cannot be impulsive, temporary, or superficial but must burn deep in our hearts. Changing our desires requires true commitment, effort, and work. As the desires we are trying to put in the forefront of our lives lead us to action, they will begin to take place deeper in our hearts. Having the strength and discipline to forgo strong but lesser wanted desires will help us change and be better people.
So what do we desire? Are our greatest desires those things that are most important to us in our life? We must be mindful of our desires as they will lead us to our success or failure in life.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
5 Steps to Resolving Any Problem
Solving problems is an important part of everyday life. Those who develop an ability to solve problems quickly and effectively will enjoy more success and satisfaction in life. Below is a list of ideas to help us solve the most difficult problems we face.
#1—Believe Every Problem Has a Solution
In order for us to solve problems, we must believe a solution is possible and that we can overcome it no matter what the problem may be. Without this belief, our ability to effectively and consistently solve problems disappears. Thus, we must believe in a solution as well as in ourselves.
#2—Clear Our Mind and Remain Calm
Too many people can’t solve problems because they are stressed out. Stress decreases our ability to think clearly and effectively. Removing stress by remaining calm and clearing our mind will allow us the greatest opportunity to solve our problems successfully.
I’ve learned two effective ways to help me clear my mind and remain calm. First is writing things down. Writing down the problem on paper gets the problem out of my mind and on to paper. This simple act helps make my mind more clear. I then write down any and every possible solution. This has brought great clarity and calmness to me in difficult situations. Second, I’ve found for me that exercising helps me to think clearly and remain calm. When my body is working hard, my mind becomes free. Finding effective ways to clear your mind and remain calm will greatly enhance our ability to solve problems effectively.
#3—Remove Emotions
Many of our problems are “self-created.” When we remove our emotions from the problems we can more easily see them for what they are. Removing our emotions from the situation will allow us to review the facts impartially and sensibly and will help us best determine how to resolve them.
#4—Be Patient
Solutions don’t always come right away and problems don’t necessarily need to be resolved immediately. Being patient when dealing with a difficult problem often times can be a major key to success. In fact, some problems seem to simply fade away or become resolved with time. Though difficult, learning to be patient with our problems often leads to success.
#5—Seek Help
Sometimes we avoid seeking help for our problems but the truth is, someone who is impartial and can have a different perspective can be a tremendous help in resolving our problems. In fact, perhaps another person has faced a similar problem and can share their experiences of how they overcame it. We should never be afraid or hesitant in seeking help to solve our problems because an “outsiders” view many times can be exactly what we need to solve it.
Learning to effectively handle and resolve problems is so critical to success in life. We all face problems but believing every problem has a solution, clearing our minds and remaining clam, removing our emotions from the situation, being patient, and seeking help from others will help us effectively and consistently overcome them.
#1—Believe Every Problem Has a Solution
In order for us to solve problems, we must believe a solution is possible and that we can overcome it no matter what the problem may be. Without this belief, our ability to effectively and consistently solve problems disappears. Thus, we must believe in a solution as well as in ourselves.
#2—Clear Our Mind and Remain Calm
Too many people can’t solve problems because they are stressed out. Stress decreases our ability to think clearly and effectively. Removing stress by remaining calm and clearing our mind will allow us the greatest opportunity to solve our problems successfully.
I’ve learned two effective ways to help me clear my mind and remain calm. First is writing things down. Writing down the problem on paper gets the problem out of my mind and on to paper. This simple act helps make my mind more clear. I then write down any and every possible solution. This has brought great clarity and calmness to me in difficult situations. Second, I’ve found for me that exercising helps me to think clearly and remain calm. When my body is working hard, my mind becomes free. Finding effective ways to clear your mind and remain calm will greatly enhance our ability to solve problems effectively.
#3—Remove Emotions
Many of our problems are “self-created.” When we remove our emotions from the problems we can more easily see them for what they are. Removing our emotions from the situation will allow us to review the facts impartially and sensibly and will help us best determine how to resolve them.
#4—Be Patient
Solutions don’t always come right away and problems don’t necessarily need to be resolved immediately. Being patient when dealing with a difficult problem often times can be a major key to success. In fact, some problems seem to simply fade away or become resolved with time. Though difficult, learning to be patient with our problems often leads to success.
#5—Seek Help
Sometimes we avoid seeking help for our problems but the truth is, someone who is impartial and can have a different perspective can be a tremendous help in resolving our problems. In fact, perhaps another person has faced a similar problem and can share their experiences of how they overcame it. We should never be afraid or hesitant in seeking help to solve our problems because an “outsiders” view many times can be exactly what we need to solve it.
Learning to effectively handle and resolve problems is so critical to success in life. We all face problems but believing every problem has a solution, clearing our minds and remaining clam, removing our emotions from the situation, being patient, and seeking help from others will help us effectively and consistently overcome them.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Eat the Frog First
Have you ever been told to eat the frog first? Well that is what I am going to tell you today. Every day, we should live by the philosophy of eating the frog first.
The frog represents the hardest thing we have to do for that day. Whether it is run 5 miles to reach our exercise goal, call our boss to tell him a mistake we made at work, clean out the gutters at home, write a speech for an upcoming event, or apologize to a friend, we should always eat our frog first. Do not procrastinate it, do not delay!!
When we learn to do the most difficult thing for the day first, everything else becomes so much easier. Many people live with unnecessary worry or stress because they delay the inevitable and when they do, they voluntarily subject themselves to personal torture as they agonize over “eating the frog.” Nothing can be worse than eating a frog we have to eat except delaying and waiting and letting it ruin our whole day first before eating it! So much energy and enthusiasm for life is sucked away by us waiting to eat our frogs each day.
It is never fun to eat frogs but when we do, relief and liberation come instantly in to our life. And on some days we have many frogs to eat. On those days, we would be wise to eat the biggest and ugliest first. Once that one is out of the way, the others do not seem quite as bad. We should continue to go down the line until all the frogs are eaten. And once all the frogs are gone we can then go about our day feeling good that the hard things are over with. This will allow us to concentrate so much better and optimize the remainder of our day.
Thus we must rid ourselves of unnecessary worry and stress by eating our frog first every day. When we learn to do this, we can quickly overcome fears and perform at higher levels for the remainder of the day. Though eating frogs first is not easy, getting it out of the way for the day will help us to be better leaders and will help us more fully reach our potential. Buena petit!!
The frog represents the hardest thing we have to do for that day. Whether it is run 5 miles to reach our exercise goal, call our boss to tell him a mistake we made at work, clean out the gutters at home, write a speech for an upcoming event, or apologize to a friend, we should always eat our frog first. Do not procrastinate it, do not delay!!
When we learn to do the most difficult thing for the day first, everything else becomes so much easier. Many people live with unnecessary worry or stress because they delay the inevitable and when they do, they voluntarily subject themselves to personal torture as they agonize over “eating the frog.” Nothing can be worse than eating a frog we have to eat except delaying and waiting and letting it ruin our whole day first before eating it! So much energy and enthusiasm for life is sucked away by us waiting to eat our frogs each day.
It is never fun to eat frogs but when we do, relief and liberation come instantly in to our life. And on some days we have many frogs to eat. On those days, we would be wise to eat the biggest and ugliest first. Once that one is out of the way, the others do not seem quite as bad. We should continue to go down the line until all the frogs are eaten. And once all the frogs are gone we can then go about our day feeling good that the hard things are over with. This will allow us to concentrate so much better and optimize the remainder of our day.
Thus we must rid ourselves of unnecessary worry and stress by eating our frog first every day. When we learn to do this, we can quickly overcome fears and perform at higher levels for the remainder of the day. Though eating frogs first is not easy, getting it out of the way for the day will help us to be better leaders and will help us more fully reach our potential. Buena petit!!
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