Famous American Inventor, Thomas Jefferson said this about time:
“Time is really the only capital than any human being has, and the only thing he cannot afford to lose.” (“Thomas A. Jefferson Quotes about time”, https://www.azquotes.com)
Every day of our lives, we have exactly 24 hours. In minutes, that gives us 1,440 and in seconds, that’s 86,400. Each day, and then it’s gone! That day is never to be recovered again. Imagine the 16th-century painter using the hourglass. The sands effortlessly flow from the top bulb into the bottom bulb. Once they are all gone, she turns the instrument over for the next hour. Twenty-four turns like that, and the day is completely gone. The next turn begins another day with the same allotment of time.
Time marches on! No one knows how much of it we have, so let’s be wise and make the absolute best of one.
Start each day with TIME
T – Take action! Each day, as our feet hit the floor, let’s take decisive action. The days or night before, figure out what the most important 2-3 tasks of our day are. Start our day attacking those tasks and completing them. For large projects that require weeks to finish (i.e. writing a book, helping kids study for an exam, getting prepped for a fitness show, etc), set a goal to spend a couple of blocks of 35-50 intensely-focused minutes at a time on them.
I – Imagine this! Imagine how great today will be if we go about it with a definite purpose and direction. Now take out the “if” and declare, “Today will be great because I will charge forward with definite purpose and direction in my life!”
M – Make peace! Each day, we often have occasion to get angry and frustrated with people &/or at situations. Upon arising each morning, let’s make it our goal to make peace with our day; meaning, telling our day that we will have peace and calmness over anything and everything that arises. This way, we go out and expect peace and calmness to rule in our hearts. And guess what? 9 times out of 10, it will.
E – Encourage ourselves! Upon waking up, encourage ourselves with present tense-positive affirmations. For example, some that I say for myself are: “I win!”, “I write great!”, “Also I train clients phenomenally!”, “I treat my wife and children like the treasures they are!”. Spent some time writing out your own. These are true game-changers!
Lying in a hospital bed, his body riddled with obesity-related issues, my late, great father told me, “Son, take care of yourself! You hear me?”. All I could muster up to say was a teary-eyed, “Oh yeah, Daddy!”. Allow me to translate please: My dad was telling me (& you) to not take time lightly. To treat each second of our 86,400 that we have each day like the nugget of gold that it is.
