“Discipline is remembering what you want.”  ~ David Campbell

“An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.”  ~ Steven Covey

I use my keys (home, office, post office, etc.) a lot on a daily basis. I found myself spending time rummaging on my keyring trying to find the correct key. I decided to  use color-coded keys or keys where the head is wrapped in a plastic liner. This small adjustment now saves me a grand total of 90 seconds a day. Multiply 90 seconds over a year’s time, and I saved approximately 9 hours. Ten minor time savers such as this turn into 90 hours saved per year (that’s two full work weeks, and then some). Automatic bill pay, making a list before you go to the store, combining travel tasks together, meal preparation efficiency, are only a few ideas to help save time towards getting your life back. However, It doesn’t stop there. 

DO NOT use your time savings to simply pile more stuff into your day. The ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop’ work ethic is overrated. Wisely use this time to sit and think. Before my mentor got me involved with personal development, I was working very hard, obtaining professional success but missing some major opportunities. I cost our firm over $500,000 in potential profit because I was working so hard at checking things off that I failed to stop and think outside the box. Opportunities like this don’t occur every day and most likely won’t return. 

Ask yourself this question: why is the CEO compensated so much more than the guy actually doing the work? In my opinion, it’s because their primary responsibility is to sit, think, and develop strategy. The CEO can make great things happen or sink the ship before anyone even knows there’s a leak with the choices they make. You are the CEO of your life. Sit, think, and act on ways to enrich and positively develop yourself personally, professionally, physically and emotionally. 

Decide today to get your head in the game of personal development. This is your life we’re talking about. Be a dog on a bone, make things happen, then keep going.

My earlier example was a simple 90-second daily time saver. If you really dig in and do some searching, you’ll find much bigger gains and much more than the 90 hour example. Get some time back into your life and use it to start thinking. The better your decisions, the better your life will work. 

“It is well that you should often leave off work and take a little relaxation, because when you come back to it, you are a better judge.” 

 ~ Leonardo DaVinci