The time factor – 2

TIME can be very unkind to people who waste opportunities. It can be a loving friend or an unforgiving foe – depending on the use to which it is put. I have often heard people say that they are ‘killing’ time. How wrong! You cannot kill time. When you ‘kill time’, you are committing suicide! When you give people permission to waste your time, you give them room to commit murder! Who are they killing? You of course!

Losers waste time. Mediocres spend time. Winners invest it. What is spent is gone but what is invested gives the hope of a dividend.

In time, what was sacrosanct sometimes becomes variable. In time, what men considered ‘canon’ fall into the realm of ‘myth’. In time, opportunities become achievements and achievements metamorphose into legacies. In time, theories become fallacies and vice-versa.

In a certain realm of time, the atom was the least indivisible particle of an element. In another, it was split to neutrons, protons and electrons. We affect other people positively or negatively in time. In time, settlements become empires and commoners become nobles (or vice versa!).

When Henry Ford came up with the idea of the ‘motorized wagon’ (the car), even Thomas Edison scoffed at the idea! Time proved some right and some wrong! After Ford succeeded with the car, the pundits of the era pontificated that the fastest speed possible to man was 30mph. Obviously they did not reckon with time’s capability to throw up the Wright Brothers!

Stop complaining about what you lack. As long as you have time, you have everything you need to succeed. Write the cheque for your future to be drawn from the bank of time. Even if men have written you off in the present, make a compelling case for succeeding as a form of showing them that time is the most accurate prophet.

Many years ago, the parents of a young lady I loved very passionately and sacrificed so much for, convinced her to jilt me at a period when I needed her most. According to her, they were convinced that an ordinary teacher like I was at the time, couldn’t feature in their daughter’s future. As we left her house that day, I turned towards her and said prophetically even in my confusion, “Time will tell”. All I can say is thank God it did. No matter what you become in life, never write anyone off. You can never know how far time will take them.

God gives you the benefit of time to prove His commitment to your success. Those who manage time well are in turn treated well by time.

How should we treat time? First, Find time. Isn’t it intriguing that people who already have their plates full are the ones usually called upon to supervise important assignments either on the job or in society? This is because of their knack for good time management which enables them to move from achievement to achievement, whereas people who have not mastered time can hardly accomplish any major assignment even though they appear busy all the time! You will always be able to find time for anything you consider important. Find time to work. Find time to study. Find time to commune with your Maker. Find time to invest in your career or business. Find time to plan. A planned work is a half-completed work already. If you do not find time to plan, you have made time to fail.  “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house” – Proverbs 24:27

Next, Fund time. Where does most of your money go? That is the area that grows most in your life. Your spending betrays your priorities. Spend quality money funding your own development. Time spent learning is never time wasted. The future you are chasing or the strategy to access the one you have envisaged may be hidden in a book you refused to buy or read! Whatever you fund in time also grows with time. What you call downtime is preparation time. Take a book with you to the beach and read. I do a lot of reading in my toilet! Pay to be coached or mentored. Several people have successfully traveled the road you are currently on. Ask them to mentor you when you find them. And be willing to pay for their time if need be. After I moved to the USA, there was a waiting period of almost one year before I could get my papers regularized. So I could not work or do any business. However, while waiting, I registered for certification courses in Alternative Dispute Resolution and became certified at all levels of practice in the USA. I was spending money that I wasn’t earning, but it has proven to be a wise move.

Focus time. Weariness is the dividend of unfocussed time and energy. If you take time to draw your action plan well, you can focus your time away from frivolities and concentrate energy and resources on the activities that are germane to your purpose and to your priorities. Sustainable success comes by living a life of priorities rather than a life of preferences. When you concentrate on the things that are expedient, you will not have enough time left for the things that are not.

Fourth, Fill time. As the saying goes, “the devil finds work for the idle hand”. Do not merely fill time with motion without movement or activity without productivity. Plan your day the night before or first thing on waking up. I always have a pen and paper beside my pillow in my bedroom so that I can put things down as I remember them or as they occur to me. I recommend same to you. Long-term goals are only accomplishable in daily doses of activity designed to move you closer to them. Distractions are fewer and less inviting if you already have a road map for the day. You simply look forward to the next milestone instead of travelling in just any direction.

Finally, Free time. This is complementary, not contradictory to filling time. In filling time with an action plan, your list should include the time you leave free for exercise, recreation, friends as well as the most important relationships in your life, especially your own family. A private dinner with your spouse, time out in the park with your children, being there on their visiting days as well as their important events, giving them attention and listening when they need to talk are not distractions to your achievement, but they actually help you to accomplish more and faster. A healthy body is required to carry an active mind. You need a happy family to enjoy the fruits of your success at any level. Free and take time to give back to God, the people, the community and the universe that have worked together to make your success possible. If you neglect these vital connections, your success, if any, is failure indisguise.

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

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