Monday Morning Motivations Make Your Time Matter

Published by Robert A. & Vicki L. Prentice of Professional Development Systems
June 12, 2006 Issue 202

From the Desk of Bob

I live much of my life on the go–so much so, that I have an office in my vehicle. This office on wheels consists of my cell phone, my satellite radio, my laptop computer, and my “auto desk”. I especially love the auto desk, which has a great writing surface and all kinds of neat little storage areas, and has even made it easier for me to keep my pickup better organized! (Oops, I’m starting to sound like a commercial here.) My friends, Kevin and Doug, who market the auto desk love me so much they gave me an auto desk about a year ago, and I really do love using it. Truly, I could not imagine my life with out the auto desk, and all the other tools that have made my travel-time so much more productive and enjoyable.

Just this morning I was chatting with my wife, Vicki, and mentioned that our readers and listeners will probably be hearing much more in the coming weeks from me on the subjects of time management, organization and efficiency. It seems like everywhere I have traveled lately someone is mentioning to me that they need some help in this area of their daily living.

So having said that, today I will be sharing about the importance of making the most of your time.

To Your Success! Bob

In this week's issue

Life Attitudes

Seeds of Success: Make Your Time Matter

The Value of Time

The Prairie Beacon

Mr. Attitude's Life Tested Tools

Life Attitudes

"Yesterday is HISTORY; tomorrow is a MYSTERY. Today is a GIFT–that's why it's called the PRESENT.”
~Anonymous~

“In the endit's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”
~Abraham Lincoln~

"Time, by moments, steals away–first the hour, and then the day. Small the daily loss appears, yet it soon amounts to years.”
~John Newton~

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Seeds of Success: Make Your Time Matter

By Robert A. Prentice

The clock is ticking and the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years are rolling on by too quickly for most of us. I believe that at some point in our lives most of us come to the conclusion that time is a very precious gift. We also realize that much of that gift has been wasted and literally hundreds–maybe even thousands–of hours have been frittered away.

My definition of “frittered away” is this: taking small chunks or pieces of something and wasting them, little by little, until all you have is a pile of nothingness. That’s the way it is with time, not used wisely and with care. Since there is no way to store time, once spent, that moment is gone forever, and how sad it can be if all you have left is a pile of nothingness.

Sometimes we fritter away even more time, by wishing we could relive those lost moments. We tell ourselves that we would do better if we could only do things over again–this time the right way. Some grieve over the loss of precious time and others become angry with them selves for not making better use of time–again, more time frittered away. Since there is no going back, but only learning from the moments gone by as we look back in time with our 20/20 vision, it is vital that we refrain from living in regret of the past. We must take today’s time to develop positive and proactive strategies to make the time at hand and the time that is before us really matter.

Forward “thinking and seeing” attitudes are required to grasp this critical responsibility of making the proper use of time truly matter to us. Change can occur, and as we shift our priorities, something special begins to transform our thinking, our decision-making processes, and ultimately our actions. Before long, new habits and attitudes begin to take shape in our lives.

I want to re-emphasize that you cannot afford to waste one second more on feeling guilty for your wasting and frittering habits of the past! It is what you do from this point on that really matters. So don’t do what you’ve always done–do something different!

Imagine for a moment, what would happen if you could recapture just ten to 20 percent of this wasted, frittered time. Why not take some time right now to jot down some goals that will help you to think more clearly and better clarify how you will manage the events of your life to maximize the moments of your day? Resist the temptation to fritter away this opportunity to take action today and do what will make your time matter!

The Value of Time

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who has failed his exam.

To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.

To realize the value of one week, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one day, ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.

To realize the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who has missed the train.

To realize the value of one second, ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of one mili-second, ask the person who's won a silver medal in the olympics.

Author Unknown

Bob "Mr. Attitude" Prentice is available for Keynote, conference engagements, and in-house company training assignments Call to schedule Bob TODAY! 800.437.9715

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Feel free to pass your Monday Morning Motivations on to a friend.

What a great way to let them know you are thinking of them!