“Far too many people have no idea of what they can do because all they have been told is what they can’t do.”
Everytime I meet someone new, be it in wealth course or in a Cashflow game that I would facilitate, I see that person as someone who has the power to do EVERYTHING. I see him/her as someone who cannot be contained. And when he/she starts talking, that is the time when he/she gives me a box wherein I could put him/her. I never treat anyone like garbage, unless they see themselves as such.
“They don’t know what they want because they don’t know what’s available to them.”
If I can give you a glimpse of what you can achieve, will you go after it? If I tell you that your future is that of great wealth, will you just let it slip? Instead of waiting for someone or something to show you what is possible, START CREATING YOUR LIFE. The best way to predict your future is to create it. And I assure you, if you act now, the future is not as bleak and lifeless as you may think.
“Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try. Society crushes their hopes. History forgets them.”
If you are simply surviving day by day, then what is holding you back from dying? When will my miserable existence end? What legacy would you want to leave? After you die, how long would you want to be remembered? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? You won’t get the answers from outside. Start asking the person inside you. You are better off chasing after your dreams instead of trying to please everyone so they won’t criticize you.
Someone is always doing something someone else said was impossible. Try trying.
“Don’t underestimate yourself or your possibilities.” –Donald J. Trump
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Death isn't sad. The sad thing is: most people don't live at all.
Have you done something so radical that it made you realize that you’re alive?
When I was young, I loved talking to people who were older than me. I loved telling them my dreams, my fantasies, even the things that I wanted for the world. When my childhood friends and I played, we always made up stories about who we will be in the future. Of course we didn’t want to be nobody. We didn’t even think that we’d be working as employees. We didn’t dream of working as telephone operators, or secretaries, or assistants. We aimed for something higher. We always did. We were unstoppable. That was how we saw life.
That was before we knew what the corporate world was.
Now, every single time we meet. I don’t see the faces they once had. They are not happy with their jobs. They’re not happy with their salary. They’re not happy with their bosses. They’re not happy, literally. They keep complaining about things. They keep blaming people for the things that they were not able to get. They were my friends. They weren’t just withering physically. Their vigor for life died as well. It seems like I don’t know them anymore.
How can you tell if you’re living or merely existing? Answer these questions honestly. Reflect on your responses and you’ll find the answer from within.
What is my biggest dream? Did I change the size of my dream so it can be “realistic”?
Is what I am doing now contributing to my dream? Do I feel like I’m just deceiving myself when I say that it is?
Whose life am I living anyway? Am I just meeting someone’s expectation? Or am I doing what I want to do?
Am I happy? Am I really happy? Can I declare to the world that I’m happy with what I’m doing? Can I declare to the world that I’m happy with my life?
Am I ready to die tomorrow?
A warrior never gives up something he loves. He will die, but his legacy will live on. Instead of thinking about what the world has in store for us, why not focus on what WE have in store for the world?
When I was young, I loved talking to people who were older than me. I loved telling them my dreams, my fantasies, even the things that I wanted for the world. When my childhood friends and I played, we always made up stories about who we will be in the future. Of course we didn’t want to be nobody. We didn’t even think that we’d be working as employees. We didn’t dream of working as telephone operators, or secretaries, or assistants. We aimed for something higher. We always did. We were unstoppable. That was how we saw life.
That was before we knew what the corporate world was.
Now, every single time we meet. I don’t see the faces they once had. They are not happy with their jobs. They’re not happy with their salary. They’re not happy with their bosses. They’re not happy, literally. They keep complaining about things. They keep blaming people for the things that they were not able to get. They were my friends. They weren’t just withering physically. Their vigor for life died as well. It seems like I don’t know them anymore.
How can you tell if you’re living or merely existing? Answer these questions honestly. Reflect on your responses and you’ll find the answer from within.
What is my biggest dream? Did I change the size of my dream so it can be “realistic”?
Is what I am doing now contributing to my dream? Do I feel like I’m just deceiving myself when I say that it is?
Whose life am I living anyway? Am I just meeting someone’s expectation? Or am I doing what I want to do?
Am I happy? Am I really happy? Can I declare to the world that I’m happy with what I’m doing? Can I declare to the world that I’m happy with my life?
Am I ready to die tomorrow?
A warrior never gives up something he loves. He will die, but his legacy will live on. Instead of thinking about what the world has in store for us, why not focus on what WE have in store for the world?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Join Our Community!
CreateAbundance2020 Business Community
Are you coachable? open minded? have a strong will to succeed? If you are, then we invite you to join our community!
Our first requirement is for you to attend one of our Introductory Programs of Life Entrepreneurship which is the Wealth Course and/or Cashflow 101 workshops. Your attendance will give you a first-hand experience of our how our program works. Once you have attended three sessions of our Introductory Programs and have now committed to make your life work for you and the people that matters to you, you will be given an opportunity to become part of our EXCLUSIVE Business Community.
Introductory Program (Wealth Course) Session Schedules and Locations:
Please Choose for Session One:
Location: Makati, Ortigas or Alabang?
Time: 3pm to 6pm or 6pm to 9pm?
Day: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?
To reserve your seat, please send us an email:
participate@createabundance2020.com
Please write your email as follows:
Subject: I WANT TO JOIN CREATE ABUNDANCE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Complete Name:
Occupation/Profession:
City of Address: (e.g Makati, Manila, Mandaluyong, Pasig etc..)
Mobile:
Important: Please make sure that the number you indicate is YOUR number
that will receive our confirmation text, (availability of seat and the exact address
of the venue).
Phone: (optional)
Person/link who referred our website: Mr. Raphael Mercado
Preferred Location of Wealth Course: (Makati/Ortigas)
Preferred Time: (3pm-6pm / 6pm-9pm)
Preferred Day: (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and Date:
Intention for joining:
Will also attend the next schedule for Cashflow 101 Workshop on a saturday?
(Yes/No)
Remarks (if any):
Please take NOTE that:
*The registration for Wealth Course is FREE.
*Cashflow Workshop Fee is P400.00, please inquire how to get 50% discount.
*If you want immediate reply to your query you can contact our mobiles: +639179174092. Please indicate your name, city of address and person/link who referred our website when you contact us.
*If you are outside Metro Manila, Philippines you can join our online community and we request to refer this website to your personal, professional and virtual networks that are in Metro Manila. We invite you to join us in our mission in spreading Financial Education throughout the nation and the world. Thank you very Much!
Are you coachable? open minded? have a strong will to succeed? If you are, then we invite you to join our community!
Our first requirement is for you to attend one of our Introductory Programs of Life Entrepreneurship which is the Wealth Course and/or Cashflow 101 workshops. Your attendance will give you a first-hand experience of our how our program works. Once you have attended three sessions of our Introductory Programs and have now committed to make your life work for you and the people that matters to you, you will be given an opportunity to become part of our EXCLUSIVE Business Community.
Introductory Program (Wealth Course) Session Schedules and Locations:
Please Choose for Session One:
Location: Makati, Ortigas or Alabang?
Time: 3pm to 6pm or 6pm to 9pm?
Day: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?
To reserve your seat, please send us an email:
participate@createabundance2020.com
Please write your email as follows:
Subject: I WANT TO JOIN CREATE ABUNDANCE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Complete Name:
Occupation/Profession:
City of Address: (e.g Makati, Manila, Mandaluyong, Pasig etc..)
Mobile:
Important: Please make sure that the number you indicate is YOUR number
that will receive our confirmation text, (availability of seat and the exact address
of the venue).
Phone: (optional)
Person/link who referred our website: Mr. Raphael Mercado
Preferred Location of Wealth Course: (Makati/Ortigas)
Preferred Time: (3pm-6pm / 6pm-9pm)
Preferred Day: (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and Date:
Intention for joining:
Will also attend the next schedule for Cashflow 101 Workshop on a saturday?
(Yes/No)
Remarks (if any):
Please take NOTE that:
*The registration for Wealth Course is FREE.
*Cashflow Workshop Fee is P400.00, please inquire how to get 50% discount.
*If you want immediate reply to your query you can contact our mobiles: +639179174092. Please indicate your name, city of address and person/link who referred our website when you contact us.
*If you are outside Metro Manila, Philippines you can join our online community and we request to refer this website to your personal, professional and virtual networks that are in Metro Manila. We invite you to join us in our mission in spreading Financial Education throughout the nation and the world. Thank you very Much!
Teachers and Mentors
I’ve had lots of teachers before. Some were okay, some were not, and there were only a few souls, so great, as they even inspired me to do great things as well. Yes, they were great, but I didn’t see them as mentors. Why? I only had one simple reason. I didn’t want to be like them.
Teachers have students, and mentors have apprentices. Teachers and professors teach you subjects, while a mentor is someone you want to be like. As Robert Kiyosaki said it, “a mentor is someone you want to grow up to be like – a role model.”
If you want to achieve something, model the person who was able to get it. If it’s traditional business, you’re lucky if he accepts you as an apprentice and he teaches you everything. Here in CA2020 community, the mentor-apprentice approach is being applied. All the members are being honed to become mentors, to become masters. Its purpose is neither to create ranks nor give titles. Its sole purpose is the make them the best of who they can become.
I would like to end this with a few words from Kiyosaki and Trump’s book. “If you are lucky, and a mentor you like decides to make you his or her apprentice, honor that person with respect for the rest of his or her time and the wisdom he or she is willing to impart to you.”
Teachers have students, and mentors have apprentices. Teachers and professors teach you subjects, while a mentor is someone you want to be like. As Robert Kiyosaki said it, “a mentor is someone you want to grow up to be like – a role model.”
If you want to achieve something, model the person who was able to get it. If it’s traditional business, you’re lucky if he accepts you as an apprentice and he teaches you everything. Here in CA2020 community, the mentor-apprentice approach is being applied. All the members are being honed to become mentors, to become masters. Its purpose is neither to create ranks nor give titles. Its sole purpose is the make them the best of who they can become.
I would like to end this with a few words from Kiyosaki and Trump’s book. “If you are lucky, and a mentor you like decides to make you his or her apprentice, honor that person with respect for the rest of his or her time and the wisdom he or she is willing to impart to you.”
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Taking Charge
When life punches you in the face, would you fight back?
For 23 years, my life was surrounded by a culture of blaming. It almost felt like a cult that whenever something bad happens to you, find someone and blame him for it! Everyone was afraid to take responsibility for his or her actions. No one wanted to be called a failure. They despised being called losers. That is why they play the role of the victim and that's why they blame. That is why they complain about everything because they, themselves, wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of fixing something broken. The only thing that, I saw, was broken is their spirit. Their will to live life to the fullest was gone.
Recently, I decided to take charge of my life. I chose to be responsible for all my actions. I became the Captain of my ship. Since then, I did everything with a sense of purpose. I don't have to listen to what other people say especially when I do something with an intention of adding value to a person's life. It was very liberating to be able to detach from my pre-conditioned beliefs
I already took charge of my life. When will you take charge of yours?
For 23 years, my life was surrounded by a culture of blaming. It almost felt like a cult that whenever something bad happens to you, find someone and blame him for it! Everyone was afraid to take responsibility for his or her actions. No one wanted to be called a failure. They despised being called losers. That is why they play the role of the victim and that's why they blame. That is why they complain about everything because they, themselves, wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of fixing something broken. The only thing that, I saw, was broken is their spirit. Their will to live life to the fullest was gone.
Recently, I decided to take charge of my life. I chose to be responsible for all my actions. I became the Captain of my ship. Since then, I did everything with a sense of purpose. I don't have to listen to what other people say especially when I do something with an intention of adding value to a person's life. It was very liberating to be able to detach from my pre-conditioned beliefs
I already took charge of my life. When will you take charge of yours?
Two Kinds of Leaders
Do you have a boss who yells at you 24/7? Do you have teachers who threaten to fail you if you don’t do certain things? How about political leaders or candidates who ask on your support by promising that they would keep the prices down?
These are our so-called leaders who speak from emotion to emotion. They would often speak from fear or from greed.
They often say things such as:
1. “If you don’t get good grades, you won’t get a good job.”
2. “If you don’t come to work on time, you’ll be fired.”
3. “If you elect me, I will make sure you don’t lose your Social Security benefits.”
4. “Play it safe. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”
5. “Join my business. You can make a lot of money.”
6. “Let me show you how to get rich quick.”
7. “Do as I tell you.”
8. “As you know, the company is having a rough time. If you don’t want to get fired, you’d best not ask for a raise.”
9. “You can’t afford to quit. Who will pay you as much as we do?”
10. “You’ve only got eight more years to retirement. Don’t make any waves.”
Now, do you remember the words of some of our great leaders? Abraham Lincoln? Ninoy Aquino? Martin Luther King? Mahatma Gandhi?
We have many great leaders, and these leaders are called great because they speak in a different way. They speak from their spirit to touch the other person’s spirit. They are the ones who can create changes without instigating fear.
Here are some noted words of these leaders:
1. “The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free or to be slaves.” –George Washington
2. “The Filipino is worth dying for.” –Benigno Aquino Jr.
3. “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” –Abraham Lincoln
4. “I have a dream…” –Martin Luther King
5. “Cowards can never be moral.” –Gandhi
6. “Don’t be humble; you’re not that great.” -Golda Meir
7. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” –John Wooden
Between the two types of leaders, which one would you like to be? A leader who speaks from emotion to emotion? Or a leader who speaks from spirit to spirit? Feel free to share your insights and your experiences.
These are our so-called leaders who speak from emotion to emotion. They would often speak from fear or from greed.
They often say things such as:
1. “If you don’t get good grades, you won’t get a good job.”
2. “If you don’t come to work on time, you’ll be fired.”
3. “If you elect me, I will make sure you don’t lose your Social Security benefits.”
4. “Play it safe. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”
5. “Join my business. You can make a lot of money.”
6. “Let me show you how to get rich quick.”
7. “Do as I tell you.”
8. “As you know, the company is having a rough time. If you don’t want to get fired, you’d best not ask for a raise.”
9. “You can’t afford to quit. Who will pay you as much as we do?”
10. “You’ve only got eight more years to retirement. Don’t make any waves.”
Now, do you remember the words of some of our great leaders? Abraham Lincoln? Ninoy Aquino? Martin Luther King? Mahatma Gandhi?
We have many great leaders, and these leaders are called great because they speak in a different way. They speak from their spirit to touch the other person’s spirit. They are the ones who can create changes without instigating fear.
Here are some noted words of these leaders:
1. “The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free or to be slaves.” –George Washington
2. “The Filipino is worth dying for.” –Benigno Aquino Jr.
3. “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” –Abraham Lincoln
4. “I have a dream…” –Martin Luther King
5. “Cowards can never be moral.” –Gandhi
6. “Don’t be humble; you’re not that great.” -Golda Meir
7. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” –John Wooden
Between the two types of leaders, which one would you like to be? A leader who speaks from emotion to emotion? Or a leader who speaks from spirit to spirit? Feel free to share your insights and your experiences.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Value of your Dreams
"Big people have big dreams, and small people have small dreams. If you want to change who you are, begin by changing the size of your dream." This statement from Rich Dad is something that I will never forget.
Five months ago, I resigned from my work in eTelecare as a recruiter. That was the time when I decided to pursue my dreams. Before I left, I asked them what their dreams were. Someone told me that he wanted to have a car. Another one told me that she wanted to have her own junk shop business in Tuguegarao. Most of them were not able to answer.
Then someone asked me, "what's your dream? why do you have to resign? The salary and benefits here are quite good." I simply smiled and told her, "I just want a simple life." When she asked what a simple life looks like for me, I just enumerated what I wanted.
My Simple Dream
a. Lots of time with my family
b. a white two-storey house on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.
c. below the cliff, there's a white beach resort
d. a white yacht
e. a private jet
They only understood the first simple dream.
So why am I shifting from being an Employee to becoming a Business Owner? Why am I ready to take on the challenges and all the pain that this will bring? What keeps me going?
These simple dreams propel me.
My simple dreams left my friends' in a state of shock and disbelief. I don't know what will happen to them when they know of my big dreams.
Five months ago, I resigned from my work in eTelecare as a recruiter. That was the time when I decided to pursue my dreams. Before I left, I asked them what their dreams were. Someone told me that he wanted to have a car. Another one told me that she wanted to have her own junk shop business in Tuguegarao. Most of them were not able to answer.
Then someone asked me, "what's your dream? why do you have to resign? The salary and benefits here are quite good." I simply smiled and told her, "I just want a simple life." When she asked what a simple life looks like for me, I just enumerated what I wanted.
My Simple Dream
a. Lots of time with my family
b. a white two-storey house on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.
c. below the cliff, there's a white beach resort
d. a white yacht
e. a private jet
They only understood the first simple dream.
So why am I shifting from being an Employee to becoming a Business Owner? Why am I ready to take on the challenges and all the pain that this will bring? What keeps me going?
These simple dreams propel me.
My simple dreams left my friends' in a state of shock and disbelief. I don't know what will happen to them when they know of my big dreams.
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Key to Happiness
By: Brian Tracy
Your ability to achieve your own happiness is the key measure of your success, of how well you are doing as a person.
You learn the key to happiness that has been the same through all of history. You learn how to dispel the two myths that may be holding you back and how to achieve more happiness in everything you do.
Dedicate Yourself to Your Best Talents
The key to happiness is this: dedicate yourself to the development of your natural talents and abilities by doing what you love to do, and doing it better and better in the service of a cause that is greater than yourself.
This is a big statement and a big commitment. Being happy requires that you define your life in your own terms and then throw your whole heart into living your life to the fullest. In a way, happiness requires that you be perfectly selfish in order to develop yourself to a point where you can be unselfish for the rest of your life.
Please Yourself First
In Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano is asked why he is so intensely individualistic and unconcerned with the opinions and judgments of others. He replies with these wonderful words: "I am what I am because early in life I decided that I would please at least myself in all things."
Your happiness likewise depends upon your ability to please at least yourself in all things. You can be happy only when you are living your life in the very best way possible. No one can define happiness for you. Only you know what makes you happy. Happiness is an inside job.
Your Happiness is Up to You
The biggest myth about happiness is when people say that it is not legitimate or correct for you to put your happiness ahead of everyone else's. Throughout my life, I've met people who have said that it is more important to make other people happy than it is to make yourself happy. This is nonsense.
The fact is that you can't give away to anyone else what you don't have for yourself. Just as you can't give money to the poor if you don't have any, you can't make someone else happy if you yourself are miserable.
The very best way to assure the happiness of others is to be happy yourself and then to share your happiness with them. Suffering and self-sacrifice merely depress and discourage other people. If you want to make others happy, start by living the kind of life and doing the kind of things that make you happy.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, define for yourself the activities that you really love and enjoy, at home and work, and then organize your life so you do more of them.
Second, believe in yourself and trust your own feelings. Then, please at least yourself in all things.
Third, determine what it is that you do that brings the most happiness to others and then organize your life so that you can do more of it.
Repost from:
http://www.imeem.com/hopefloats/blogs/2007/07/01/8Y53xTTs/the_key_to_happiness
Your ability to achieve your own happiness is the key measure of your success, of how well you are doing as a person.
You learn the key to happiness that has been the same through all of history. You learn how to dispel the two myths that may be holding you back and how to achieve more happiness in everything you do.
Dedicate Yourself to Your Best Talents
The key to happiness is this: dedicate yourself to the development of your natural talents and abilities by doing what you love to do, and doing it better and better in the service of a cause that is greater than yourself.
This is a big statement and a big commitment. Being happy requires that you define your life in your own terms and then throw your whole heart into living your life to the fullest. In a way, happiness requires that you be perfectly selfish in order to develop yourself to a point where you can be unselfish for the rest of your life.
Please Yourself First
In Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano is asked why he is so intensely individualistic and unconcerned with the opinions and judgments of others. He replies with these wonderful words: "I am what I am because early in life I decided that I would please at least myself in all things."
Your happiness likewise depends upon your ability to please at least yourself in all things. You can be happy only when you are living your life in the very best way possible. No one can define happiness for you. Only you know what makes you happy. Happiness is an inside job.
Your Happiness is Up to You
The biggest myth about happiness is when people say that it is not legitimate or correct for you to put your happiness ahead of everyone else's. Throughout my life, I've met people who have said that it is more important to make other people happy than it is to make yourself happy. This is nonsense.
The fact is that you can't give away to anyone else what you don't have for yourself. Just as you can't give money to the poor if you don't have any, you can't make someone else happy if you yourself are miserable.
The very best way to assure the happiness of others is to be happy yourself and then to share your happiness with them. Suffering and self-sacrifice merely depress and discourage other people. If you want to make others happy, start by living the kind of life and doing the kind of things that make you happy.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, define for yourself the activities that you really love and enjoy, at home and work, and then organize your life so you do more of them.
Second, believe in yourself and trust your own feelings. Then, please at least yourself in all things.
Third, determine what it is that you do that brings the most happiness to others and then organize your life so that you can do more of it.
Repost from:
http://www.imeem.com/hopefloats/blogs/2007/07/01/8Y53xTTs/the_key_to_happiness
What's Important Now?: Manage your time, or someone else will manage it for you.
I'll never forget an important time management lesson I learned in a seminar many years ago . . . especially how the instructor illustrated the point.
"Okay, time for a quiz," he said, as he pulled out a one-gallon wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on the desk in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?"
Everyone in the seminar said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar. This caused pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group again, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," we answered.
"Good!" he replied as he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you really try hard, you can always fit some things into it."
"No," the instructor replied. "The point is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
So, today, tonight, or in the morning when you are reflecting on this story, ask yourself: What are the 'big rocks' in my life or business? Then, be sure to put those in your jar first.
And by the way, you get the same size jar as everyone else. No exceptions.
What changes from person to person is the size of each rock. I've got a couple boulders in my jar: family first, always. Things like friends, my company, my speaking/writing "hobby," maintaining my network, my volunteer commitments, my health, and my religion all take up a lot of space. The gravel is all the stuff that takes up more than a few minutes but doesn't necessarily happen every day, like a committee assignment, a vacation, learning new software... you get the idea.
And now, the sand. You can decide whether to be that 98-pound weakling who gets sand kicked at him, or the creator of a spectacular sand castle. The sand is the yes/no stuff that absolutely has to fit around everything else after it's in the jar. A little piece of sand in your eye is a big pain, and those are the ones that get the no-thank-you right off the bat. A little sand on an icy street is one of life's little pleasures when you live in snow country as I do. You choose the sand. It's your jar.
In other words, it's your time. Change the rocks, gravel and sand into hours, minutes and seconds. Then decide what your priorities are and how much time you'll spend on them. If you don't, someone else will decide for you and you'll end up with a jar full of heavy, jagged, nasty shards that nobody could touch without getting stabbed by another rock. Do you really want to spend your time working on other people's priorities?
As Benjamin Franklin said, "If we take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves." Good time management is taking care of the things that matter most to us first and keeping that jar of rocks in sight all the time.
My friend Lou Holtz has a great formula: W.I.N. -- What's Important Now? Use some of your precious time to figure out what's important in your life and you will win.
-- Harvey Mackay
taken from Jim Rohn's Weekly E-Zine 09282008
"Okay, time for a quiz," he said, as he pulled out a one-gallon wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on the desk in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?"
Everyone in the seminar said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar. This caused pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group again, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," we answered.
"Good!" he replied as he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you really try hard, you can always fit some things into it."
"No," the instructor replied. "The point is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
So, today, tonight, or in the morning when you are reflecting on this story, ask yourself: What are the 'big rocks' in my life or business? Then, be sure to put those in your jar first.
And by the way, you get the same size jar as everyone else. No exceptions.
What changes from person to person is the size of each rock. I've got a couple boulders in my jar: family first, always. Things like friends, my company, my speaking/writing "hobby," maintaining my network, my volunteer commitments, my health, and my religion all take up a lot of space. The gravel is all the stuff that takes up more than a few minutes but doesn't necessarily happen every day, like a committee assignment, a vacation, learning new software... you get the idea.
And now, the sand. You can decide whether to be that 98-pound weakling who gets sand kicked at him, or the creator of a spectacular sand castle. The sand is the yes/no stuff that absolutely has to fit around everything else after it's in the jar. A little piece of sand in your eye is a big pain, and those are the ones that get the no-thank-you right off the bat. A little sand on an icy street is one of life's little pleasures when you live in snow country as I do. You choose the sand. It's your jar.
In other words, it's your time. Change the rocks, gravel and sand into hours, minutes and seconds. Then decide what your priorities are and how much time you'll spend on them. If you don't, someone else will decide for you and you'll end up with a jar full of heavy, jagged, nasty shards that nobody could touch without getting stabbed by another rock. Do you really want to spend your time working on other people's priorities?
As Benjamin Franklin said, "If we take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves." Good time management is taking care of the things that matter most to us first and keeping that jar of rocks in sight all the time.
My friend Lou Holtz has a great formula: W.I.N. -- What's Important Now? Use some of your precious time to figure out what's important in your life and you will win.
-- Harvey Mackay
taken from Jim Rohn's Weekly E-Zine 09282008
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