This is It

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Barry

“Act with deep understanding that ‘This is It’.”

—Author Unknown

Image of word "Now" with the "O" as a clock face

Image from Spear Education

One of my favorite quotes from the early years of The Quotable Coach series is “Time is the coin of your life,” by Carl Sandburg. The idea that our time on this planet is finite, and that we allocate or spend our life equity is profound.

What if you were something other than human, whose average life span is 79 years? Here are the average life spans of some other earthly creatures:

Mayfly	1 day	Worker Ant	6 months
Worker Bee	1 year	Queen Bee	5 years
Bull Frog	16 years	Bat	24 years
Camel	50 years	Galapagos Tortoise	193 years

EXERCISE:

How can and will you make the most of your time by taking a “This is It” perspective? Who will you choose to spend time with to live each precious moment you have been given?

Feel free to reply with some of the actions you plan or will continue to take.

one compassionate gift

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Barry

“Time is one of the most loving and compassionate gifts you can give someone, including yourself!”

—Laurent Carrel, Messages from Melanie

Image from clock-desktop.com

About five years ago, Warren Buffett teamed up with Bill and Melinda Gates in a campaign called Giving Pledge, which has billionaires give away the bulk of their wealth.

Today, more than 130 individuals and couples from over 14 countries have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charities and philanthropic causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.

Beyond the monetary gifts, many are also giving away the precious offering of valuable time – which is something we can all consider as we pursue lives of passion and purpose.

EXERCISE:

If time is the coin of life, where and with whom might you spend it more generously, to make a bigger difference in your communities?

Be sure to make time for yourself as well.

Friday Review Time

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Barry

FRIDAY REVIEW: TIME

What are your beliefs and practices relative to time? Here are a few time-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.

“It wasn’t a waste of time if you learned something.”

“If time were to take on human form, would she be your task master or freedom fighter?”

“There are people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their lives.”

Busy is a form of lazy

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Barry

“Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

-Timothy Ferriss, Author

QC #1046

Timothy Ferris is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker, best known for his 2007 best-selling book, The 4-Hour Work Week.

Assuming the average worker puts in 40 hours each week, we would see that Ferris is suggesting we work only 10% of those hours.

To achieve such a breakthrough would clearly cause us to do far less and in many cases stop the majority of our daily tasks.

EXERCISE:

How would decreasing the time you spend in meaningless work and focusing on your most important priorities improve the quality of your personal and professional worlds?

Begin today by ruthlessly cutting out at least one hour of busywork that is adding no real value to your world.

“I am definitely going to take a course…”

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Barry

“I am definitely going to take a course on time management, just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.”

—Louis E. Boone, U.S. academic author

Photo from Flickr by Jeremy Osterhouse

If you are like most people, time management is an area that could use a bit of improvement. Who doesn’t want to accomplish more in less time? Who wouldn’t want to have more time to enjoy the pleasures of life?

The paradox is that you must invest more time to gain greater mastery in your management of this elusive commodity. Just like investing money usually creates greater wealth, investing time in mastering its allocation and use can pay huge dividends.

EXERCISE:

Please consider the following three resources:

If you only have 15-20 minutes, feel free to download my free workbook on Time Management Strategies and Tactics, or simply reply to this post and I will send it to you.
Pick up and study a copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen
Consider reading The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

“What you do today is important because…”

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Barry

“What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by GotCredit

What is a day worth? If you were to calculate the monetary value of one full revolution of planet Earth, what would the exact value be?

The professional service providers who are my coaching clients often bill out at hourly rates. Just to make the math simple for this example, we’ll assume a rate of $200/hour. One 24-hour day would be worth $4,800.

Add that to the qualitative value you attribute to each day you spend with family, friends, and colleagues, engaged in enjoyable and meaningful pursuits.

EXERCISE:

Based on the scenario above, select a number which represents the value you attribute to a single day. As you look at today and look forward to tomorrow, how will you spend your “life equity” to make the most of this miracle called life?

“Whatever you want to do…”

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Barry

“Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”

—Michael Landon, American actor, writer, director, and producer

Image from Twitter.com

If you were born today and knew you would live to be 82 years old, you would have approximately 30,000 tomorrows. That you are an adult reading this post means you probably have a fairly large number of yesterdays behind you.

Many of us get caught up in the daily flow of life where weekends and vacations become the primary times we do more of what we want to do. Doing the things we love each and every day of the week, including our vocations, enriches our lives and the world even more, bringing a new level of growth and satisfaction to all of our “tomorrows.”

EXERCISE:

Create a mini professional and personal bucket list just for this week or this month. Take Michael Landon’s coaching and get started immediately.

Feel free to comment on this post or email me with the actions you are taking.

“Spam is like shoplifting. [It’s] theft…”

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Barry

“Spam is like shoplifting. [It’s] theft of a tiny amount of a very valuable asset – (Time).”

Seth Godin, American author, entrepreneur, marketer, and public speaker

Photo from www.bookwormroom.com

Most people I work with value honesty and integrity. I’m pretty sure that none of them would consider themselves criminals, or in the case of today’s quote, shoplifters.

Consider the current state of your e-mail system. How many messages do you have at this moment? What percent of these messages are valuable and desirable? What percent are necessary but a cause for frustration? Finally, what percent do you consider spam that literally steals precious moments of your day?

EXERCISE:

What actions can you take today to more carefully utilize e-mail and perhaps social media as well, to recapture a bit more of the precious resource of time?

Consider discussing today’s quote with others in your professional and personal communities, to amplify the value of this exercise.

“If time were to take on…”

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Barry

“If time were to take on human form, would she be your task master or freedom fighter?”

—Richie Norton, author, entrepreneur, strategic advisor

Photo from Flickr by Gioia De Antoniis

Each of has the same 24-hours in our day. Some view this “life capital” from a constraining, scarcity perspective, thinking there is never enough. This often reflects on their attitudes and their level of fulfillment and engagement.

Others view time with an attitude of abundance. They champion and make the most of every moment, fully embracing the gifts each day can bring.

EXERCISE:

What adjustments can you make to your views about time to become more of a “freedom fighter” and less of the “taskmaster”?

“Never give up on a dream…”

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Barry

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”

—Earl Nightingale, American self-help speaker and author

photo from Flickr by kerolic

Some say that a vision is a dream with a deadline. Nightingale points out that this “time thing” is a primary cause of many people giving up on their dreams and visions. Of course many, if not most, rewarding futures take considerable time. That is what makes the accomplishment worthwhile.

Another interpretation of today’s quote is the saying, “It’s more about the journey than the destination.” Each small step toward your dream can be a source of satisfaction on its own, without your having to see the mountain you have to scale as unachievable or not worth the time it will take.

EXERCISE:

What dream or personal vision for the future will you commit to today, knowing that every day lived with enthusiasm and passion is what the journey is all about?