Success Pillar 5 - The Proper Use of Time July 21, 2007
Posted by admin in : success university, personal development , add a commentFrom the desk of Damien Dupont
As a Success University member, every month I receive an audio CD as well as a DVD shipped to me along with SU’s monthly “Success Express” newsletter.
In May 2007, the audio CD included was Jim Rohn’s and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”.
This is the fifth and final of five posts which I have written, in sequence, as my personal summary and review of the first five pillars of Jim Rohn’s “12 Pillars of Success”. They are set in the same context of Jim and Chris’ story about two fictional characters, Michael and Charlie, whom they use to illustrate the 12 fundamental principles to achieve Success in Life. Their story is also available in novel form.
If you wish to read my review from the first post, just click the following link: Success Pillar 1 was entitled “Work harder on yourself than on your job“.
Now let’s get into Success Pillar 5: The Proper Use of Time…
Our story finds Michael sitting and talking with Charlie over coffee at Charlie’s favourite hangout, Mag’s Diner. Michael has been expressing his frustration at the lack of progress he is making in his career, and Charlie asked the question as to what Michael’s written goals were for his career. Michael didn’t have any, hence the problem, so Charlie has been sharing with Michael what Mr. Davis has to say about goal setting.
“I can appreciate the truth in what you’re saying Charlie, but the problem is that I am already so snowed under with work. Paying the bills, looking after my family, and spending time with Amy and the kids takes all of my time. I just can’t see where I would be able to fit in the time to strive toward a goal”, Michael explained.
“And you’re surely not alone with that problem Michael. When it comes down to it, the majority of people go through their lives spending most of their time on the “urgent” as to opposed to what is most important”, Charlie said.
“So how do you tell the difference? How do you distinguish between what is important and what isn’t? Surely I have to provide for my family, pay the bills, and spend time with them. Isn’t that important?”, Michael added.
“Surely it is Michael. This said, each and everyday we are presented with choices as to how we spend at least some of the time given us in that day”.
“Mr Davis says that the best allocation of your time for each day is that time which you spend doing something which is inline with, and moves you towards, your overall goals in life”.
“This is the truly “important” time, and I’m sure that spending time building your relationship with Amy and your children forms a part of that. But beyond this and providing for your family, surely there are a few hours in each day that you can contribute towards the achievement of your overall life goals?”, Charlie asked.
“Yeah, I guess so. But there always seems to be something that crops up. Just last week my boss asked me to put in an extra ten hours to fill in for a colleague on leave. The week before that my son tore a ligament in his ankle at hockey practice, and I spent 7 hours with him waiting in the outpatients ward at the local hospital”.
“Life will always throw us curve balls Michael. We have to assume them, but not lose overall sight of the goals we are striving for. As for your boss, could you have told him no?”, Charlie enquired.
“Yeah, it’s not easy but I guess so”, Michael answered.
“You see Michael”, Charlie continued, “you have to distinguish between what you have to do and what is optional. Also, you have to be aware that oftentimes that which is urgent is not necessarily important”.
“Most people spend their time just keeping up with their daily commitments in order to pay the bills and get by. They are investing their time on the urgent, but the urgent is seldom important in the context of moving you towards your life goals”.
“Mr Davis compares the urgent to an oppressive slave-master, and one that will steal the years of your life.
Instead we have to be the designers of our own lives, and become the masters of the precious time God gives us everyday on this earth, and not let time master us.”
“You see Michael, something will always master, and something will always serve. Either you run your days, or your days will run you. Either you take control of your time, or your time and your years will slip between your fingers like sand, and you’ll be little closer to attaining your dreams for life.”
“Michael, I have heard Mr. Davis say on many occasions that we must all suffer one of two things…
Either we have to pay the price of discipline, or we will pay the price of regret. The distinction is that the price of discipline is pennies, whereas the price of regret is a life’s ransom.
These are very profound words Michael”.
“Yeah, I guess so”, Michael acknowledged.
“For most people there are certain things that they long to do, but if they reach the end of life and have not yet done them, they will have deep regrets”.
Charlie continued, “I’m an old man now and in the twilight of my life and it amazes me how fast life has flown by. Fortunately, I have lived a good life and have achieved and done most of the things in life that I had wanted and set out to do”.
“The one sure thing for all of us though is that the end of our lives will come, and sooner than we think. Too many people reach their twilight years, look back and know that they haven’t achieved their dreams, and find that there’s nothing they can do to turn back the clock. Their bodies are frail and unwilling, their time for opportunity is behind them, and they have to pay the high price of regret”.
“Michael, you have to realise that each day of our lives is worth gold and is expensive. When you spend each day, that is one day less that you have to spend. The hourglass of life is ticking down. So be sure to spend each of your days wisely”.
“To do that you need first to set and write out your goals. This will then enable you to distinguish between activities which are important and which will move you closer towards your end goal, versus those activities which are urgent and optional.
Be the designer of your own life Michael, and become the master of your own time”.
Just then the pager on Michael’s mobile phone chimed. It was a message from work about something he had to attend to.
“Well, speaking of the urgent”, Michael said, “it looks as though I have to get moving. Charlie, I sure do appreciate the time that we’ve spent together, and I thank you for sharing with me more of Mr. Davis’ principles”.
“It’s entirely my pleasure Michael”. Michael arose and slowly and warmly shook Charlie’s hand, before he was off to put out another urgent, yet likely unimportant fire.
Postscript: This is the final installment of my review of Jim Rohn’ and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”. If you wish to learn the other seven pillars, you can get their book.
Alternatively, you can join Success University via the following 14 Day $2 Trial offer page. Jim Rohn is the primary instructor of the Success University Weekly Success Plan.
Jim’s comprehensive plan covers personal development, wealth creation, health, leadership, increasing your memory, a speed reading course, and much more.
It also includes the Twelve Pillars of Success, fifty two weekly email trainings, a 500+ page downloadable workbook, as well as 12 monthly conference calls with guests including Zig Ziglar and Loral Langemeier.
Jim Rohn’s Success Plan has a retail value of $1,101.00 - you really do not want to miss out on this. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Wishing you the best of success in life.
Warmly,
Whilst this review and excerpt has been relayed in my own words, the Twelve Pillars story is:Copyright © 2006 by Jim Rohn International and Chris Widener International. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Twelve Pillars book is available on Amazon.com via this link
Or…
- Click here for more titles on Amazon.com by Jim Rohn
- Click here for more titles on Amazon.com by Chris Widener
Success Pillar 4 - Achieve Your Goals July 20, 2007
Posted by admin in : success university, personal development , add a commentFrom the desk of Damien Dupont
As a Success University member, every month I receive an audio CD as well as a DVD shipped to me along with SU’s monthly “Success Express” newsletter.
In May 2007, the audio CD included was Jim Rohn’s and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”.
This is the fourth of five posts which I am writing, in sequence, as my personal summary and review of the first five pillars of Jim Rohn’s “12 Pillars of Success”. They are set in the same context of Jim and Chris’ story about two fictional characters, Michael and Charlie, whom they use to illustrate the 12 fundamental principles to achieve Success in Life. Their story is also available in novel form.
If you wish to read my review from the first post, just click the following link: Success Pillar 1 was entitled “Work harder on yourself than on your job“.
Now let’s get into Success Pillar 4: Achieve Your Goals…
About four weeks had passed since the day Michael last saw Charlie in the garden back at Mr. Davis’ Twelve Pillars Estate. Michael decided to give Charlie a call to see if they could get together again. Charlie welcomed the idea, said he had to go into town that week to do some errands, and suggested that they catch up at Charlie’s favourite hangout, Mag’s Diner.
As Michael pulled in beside an old pickup truck on the gravel car park at the diner, he spotted a few other tradesmen in white overalls out front chewing the fat. He could smell the sizzle of the diner’s grill, and thought to himself that this was indeed a fitting spot for an old maintenance man like Charlie to hang out.
Michael got out of his car and walked through the car park and around to the front of the diner. As he came through the front entrance, he could see Charlie chatting with a small group of old timers down in the back corner. Charlie noticed Michael too, and so excused himself from the group and made his way toward him with a slightly uneasy gait. The two men met near the middle of the diner.
“Great to see you”, Michael exclaimed as the two men shook hands. “Great to see you too. How are you Michael?”. “I’m doing great. Are you Okay there? I noticed that you were walking a little slowly. Did you hurt yourself?”.
“Oh no”, Charlie calmly reassured him. “I’m fine. It’s just old age,” Charlie said in a cheery tone. “Us old timers take a little bit longer to get around. And heck, we’re in less of hurry too”, he chuckled. “Why don’t we take this table”, he said, as he motioned to the empty table on his right near the window.
The two men took their seats just as a chirpy waitress approached. “How y’all doin’ today?” she greeted. “Can I getcha’s any coffee?”. “Sure can, hon”, Charlie responded. “Michael?”, he enquired.
“Yes thank you”, Michael replied. “Two coffees comin’ right up” the waitress exclaimed, as she smiled, tilted her head and sent a cheerful wink Michael’s way. “Wow! She’s in a good mood”, Michael remarked as the waitress headed back to the counter. “That’s Sue”, Charlie said. “She’s always like that. She’s got a great attitude that gal”.
“So how long have you been working at Twelve Pillars?”, Michael enquired. “Oh since Mr Davis started building it”, Charlie answered. “Before that I was in business for myself and did alright, but I discovered that what I enjoyed most was fixing and taking care of things, doing gardening and that type of thing, so I decided to retire from business and do what I enjoy most”, Charlie smiled.
He continued, “So how are things with Amy”. “Oh she’s great. Thanks for asking. Actually that’s part of what I wanted to get together to talk with you about. I took your advice after our little “gardening” chat the other week. Your analogy really helped me. In practical terms, I decided to set aside some more time for us to spend together”.
Michael paused as Sue approached to set down the coffee, cream and sugar. “There y’all go hon. Can I get you anything else?”. “The coffee’s fine for me” Michael replied. “Thanks Sue. Nothing else for me today” Charlie added.
“As I was saying”, Michael continued, “I arranged for a babysitter to come in one night a week so Amy and I could go out together and get some time away from the kids, and I left it to Amy to decide wherever it is that she’d want to go, whether to a restaurant, movie, or just down to the mall together. She loves it. It’s been like a burst of sunlight on a blooming flower” Michael exclaimed.
“That’s fantastic Michael”, Charlie replied. “It’s amazing how the little things can make such a difference isn’t it? Just remember though that just because you have, in your words, a “blooming flower”, that this doesn’t mean the work is over. A flower still needs watering and sunshine to keep it from wilting”.
“So what else has been happening Michael? How are the kids and how’s your work going?”.
“Ahh… yes my work”, Michael answered. “Well that’s still a bit of a source of frustration for me”, he added ruefully. “I just don’t feel like I am getting anywhere there. I really feel like I have more potential, and would like to be on a higher pegging and to be more successful than I am, but there just doesn’t appear to be much opportunity there for me”.
“I see. So what goals are you shooting for with your career?”, Charlie enquired. “Goals?”, Michael said. “You got me there. I guess that might be part of my problem. I haven’t actually defined any goals”.
“I would say that’s it Michael. It’s a bit like the Joe Jackson song: You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)
“Well do tell”, Michael urged. “It’s pretty basic stuff”, Charlie continued. “Basic, but very powerful. First you have to write it down”.
“Err.. I don’t have a notepad with me”, Michael said. Charlie chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. Your goals. That’s what you need to write down. Doing so will crystallise them and it defines for your subconscious what you are shooting for”.
“Mr Davis says that one of the best things you can do is to set some time aside to sit down and write out one hundred things that you would like to do and achieve before you die. The process of deciding what they are is in itself powerful, but if you get them written down… then watch out.
“In fact that should be your first goal: to set the time aside to define and write out 100 goals for your life”.
“Mr Davis also says that the importance of setting goals is not so much in the achievement of the goal, but in what you become in the process of achieving your goal. It is in the growing that you have to do to achieve it that the greater values lies. What you become in the process of achieving is often of greater value than the achievement itself”.
“So the real purpose of a goal is to help to make me a better person?”, Michael checked. “That’s exactly it”, Charlie confirmed. “Hey… okay then. I think I’m starting to catch the gist of this “success” stuff. You’re starting to get me fired me up and I have as yet to do any of this”.
Charlie grinned. “Yes the process of challenge and change is exciting isn’t it? You have a bright future ahead of you Michael”. “Yeah, I guess. I wish I was already there though. It still seems like a long road ahead for me, especially as I have wasted so many years already”.
“Just remember Michael”, Charlie said…
“Whilst you can’t change where you are overnight, you can change your direction starting now. You are where you are right now, but you don’t have to remain where you are today.
Decide where it is that you want to go, set out a long term goal, and then flesh out a plan for getting there. Continue to make progress and maintain the right direction, and your goal will become ever closer”.
Charlie continued, “If your long-term goal is ten years out, define an intermediate goal for five years, and then set incremental goals for one or two years out. You can also have what Mr. Davis calls micro goals which are only a few months out. The key is to set them so that each goal is a stepping stone towards the larger goal”.
“Mr. Davis says that one of the most powerful lessons in life is simply to first decide what you want to achieve, and then to set out with some action towards achieving it”.
Charlie paused a moment to cradle and take a sip from his coffee mug.
Click the following link to navigate to Jim Rohn’s Fifth Success Pillar: The Proper Use of Time
Postscript: If you wish to read up on all of Jim Rohn’s and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”, you can get their book. Alternatively, you can join Success University via the following 14 Day $2 Trial offer page.
Jim Rohn is the primary instructor of the Success University Weekly Success Plan. Jim’s comprehensive plan covers personal development, wealth creation, health, leadership, increasing your memory, a speed reading course, and much more.
Jim’s Success Plan also includes the Twelve Pillars of Success, fifty two weekly email trainings, a 500+ page downloadable workbook, as well as 12 monthly conference calls with guests including Zig Ziglar and Loral Langemeier.
Jim Rohn’s Success Plan has a retail value of $1,101, and I cannot recommend it more highly.
Signing off for now.
Warmly,
Whilst this review and excerpt has been relayed in my own words, the Twelve Pillars story is:Copyright © 2006 by Jim Rohn International and Chris Widener International. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Twelve Pillars book is available on Amazon.com via this link
Or…
- Click here for more titles on Amazon.com by Jim Rohn
- Click here for more titles on Amazon.com by Chris Widener
