by: Damien Senn
I thought I'd begin this article by stimulating your mind with a little time trivia contest! Are you ready? Alright then, here goes…..
Question 1 - How many hours a day did Bill Gates have available to him to conceptualise Microsoft and build it into a multi Billionaire dollar empire?
a) 23 hours
b) 25 hours
c) 24 hours
Question 2 - How many days a week did Hilary Swank have to become an academy award winning actress?
a) 6 days
b) 8 days
c) 7 days
Question 3 - How many weeks a year did Nelson Mandela have available to him to free his country from the tyranny of apartheid?
a) 51 weeks
b) 53 weeks
c) 52 weeks
please note the answers are at the bottom of the article.
So how did you go?
Now if you answered all the questions correctly - congratulations! You have just demonstrated to yourself that you have the necessary intellect and awareness required to master your own time!
If you answered any of the questions incorrectly - it's ok. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just re-sit the test before continuing the article!
We are all given the same 24 hours a day.
One of the most important things to recognise about time is that each of us has been given the same 24 hours a day to work with. It doesn't matter if your one of the world's great leaders or a street cleaner, your time allocation remains the same.
Great people do great things in life not because they have more hours than the rest of us but because they put their time to good use. Your success in life therefore depends not on how many hours you have available each day but on how you personally choose to use your time. You always have enough time to create an extraordinary life should you choose to.
But I don't have enough time!
Whenever you hear yourself say that you don't have enough time, what you are really saying is that you have 'chosen' to do something else with your time. How you spend your time is your time is entirely your choice. The big question is, 'are you making the choices that will provide you with the maximum amount of health, peace and happiness?'
Where are you wasting time?
If you want to become a master of your time one of the first things you need to do is work out where you are currently wasting time. Are you spending too much time down at the pub or watching TV or doing a job that you hate? If you are then you have to do something about it. Nothing will change unless you do.
Try giving up alcohol for month, selling your TV or volunteering your time to a cause you feel passionate about. You'll soon be amazed at what else is possible for your life!
You can't make time!
It's important to understand that you can't make time, you can't find time and you certainly can't buy time. Time just is as it is.
The issue is never about having enough time, but what you choose to do with your time. There is always enough time to do the things that you want to do. You just have to be to committed to doing them.
Answers
Question 1 - c) 24 hours
Question 2 - c) 7 days
Question 3 - c) 52 weeks
Copyright Damien Senn 2005. All rights reserved.