I had a brilliant student in one of my workshops state that there are only 3 ways to use time.  He said that we can sell our time, invest our time or waste our time.

As I have thought about this comment, and looked back on my life I realise that I have wasted so much time.  In fact even when I was selling my time and investing my time, at the core often I was wasting my time.

The biggest reason for this is my reluctance, or resistance to planning.  Planning takes time.  Planning takes mental focus and energy. Planning is a vital part of all success, and it is a principle that successful people understand and live.  Planning is not only goal setting. It’s not only about the big picture. It is about all the small details. It is about the moments in our lives, and making those small moments count.

Whilst I understand the importance of planning, often I feel like it is a waste of time because I am so focussed on taking action.  However planning is an important aspect of ‘sharpening the saw’.

My brother in law and I were using an electric chainsaw that was cheap and basic, to saw through a large stump on the ground.  We did not have much luck so I borrowed a second chainsaw from a friend. The problem was that the chains on both saws were useless.  Yet at the time I had such little understanding about chainsaws, that I thought maybe it was my technique that was the issue.

We had gotten rid of all the branches, so it was only a stump remaining.  Both saws seemed to do a decent job cutting through branches that were about 10-15 center-meters in diameter.  We then began to work on the base of that stump.  This stump was about half a meter in diameter.  I had a job to do and I was determined to see it through. Therefore I began to work first with one chainsaw and then the other. When I got tired, my brother-in-law took over.  We worked for over an hour and finally achieved our goal.  Upon completion we were both exhausted.

I have reflected on this experience and thought about how effective we would have been with sharp saw? Maybe it would only have taken 30 second?

Even though I was doing a job and investing my time in the beautification of our yard, It had taken a very long time.  Without the correct tools, or in this case “a sharp tool” I had really wasted my time.  It had taken far more time and effort than it should have.

This experience can be related to our lives.  I have often thought about how many mistakes I have made in my relationships.  How I have caused disharmony, frustration and rejection to divide me from the woman that I love.  I have spent years trying to resolve conflict, deal with differences and have a loving strong relationship without the correct tools.  Don’t get me wrong, I have always moved in the right direction however it has taken a long time to make progress.  Just like cutting a tree down with a blunt chainsaw, I have been striving to create a phenomenal marriage without the correct tools.  How wonderful it has been for me over the last several years to learn and practice emotional mastery.  To learn about the needs of a woman and then apply that in a congruent way.  Through books and practical experience I have been taught about the needs of a woman and how to meet those needs.  Through life coaching I have been held accountable so that I continually make progress, because when performance is measured, performance improves.   However the biggest change for me came though a live seminar with Tony Robbins.  This saturation environment awakened something inside of me that I have been trying to understand ever since that moment.  It was as if I had been taught unconsciously everything that I needed to know to make my relationship THE greatest relationship.

How about my physical health. I have always done exercise, and long ago made it a part of my life, however I still had a pudgy belly.  No matter what I did, it seemed that belly fat was immovable.  Once again in this area, during a live seminar, a saturation environment I woke up to health.  I was changed and corrected my diet, fixed some health issues, and my body began to transform.  I lost 12kg in 5 weeks and have kept it off to this day almost 18 months later.  I learned the tools of increased energy, alkalising the body, and breathing.  Once I applied the right tools I got the results fast.

These concepts sound so simple and they are.  Yet I still know that I waste so much time because I lack the tools in other areas of my life.  This understanding has driven me to discover the tools that make life work so that I can have energy, health, wealth, happiness and fulfillment that I desperately desire.  One thing that I have learned and know is that fulfillment comes from growth and contribution, the two needs of the spirit

Focusing on our own individual growth helps.  When we make a conscious our listening changes, and we learn far more effectively.  Just making the decision to grow will put us in touch with tools for accelerated learning.   There will be increase in the effectiveness of our efforts.  Therefore time becomes more valuable. For example if I go into a training or learning environment expecting not to learn much, this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.  Likewise if I have a heavy reliance on the speaker to lift my belief in myself, or to inspire me, or to help me feel good, then I am effectively giving up my personal power.  I am not showing up.  Alternately when I prepare by planning effectively, and by deciding to show up and not just turn up, the seminar will be different.  If I put in the effort and get myself into a peak state for learning, prior to the arrival of the speaker, my energy can and will help to lift that speaker and the content will become more meaningful.  Making full use of time requires that we ‘show up‘, not just in seminars or training sessions, but to life.

The Second big thing is to focus on those time wasting activities, and plan for the effective use of that time.  Plan out those moments that are not directed.  Have a focus for what you want to accomplish.  Starting our day, week and month with direction and purpose is the key to progress.  My life coach has been striving to get me to map out my progress, and this time has been invested wisely.

When we invest our time rather than waste time, and we have the proper tools, we will improve our effectiveness, improve the quality of our relationships,  improve our income, and improve our lives.  If you want to increase your income, and move toward financial independence, or financial freedom invest your time in learning.  Invest in seminars.  Invest, Invest, Invest.

The greatest investment that you and I will ever make is mastery of the self.