The Alphabet T of Leadership for the Young Mind

It’s been some time since I wrote in this series. Sincere apologies to my avid readers. What have you been up to? Well, for me I took a family vacation, visited Turkey for the first time. I always look forward to time with my family, away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos, Nigeria. As usual, it was a great time together. We created memories that will carry us through life, strengthen us in the storm and calm us in the chaos of life. Go ahead create your own memories, they will surely carry you through.

Which do you think the Alphabet T is, Trust, Truth or Time? These 3 are very important ingredients in the recipe for success. Our Alphabet T of Leadership is TIME! Life will always be; a function of time – past, present and future, expressed in time – Age and lived in time – day, week, year. Time is the currency of life. What you get or do not get out of life is directly related to how you make use of your time.

I particularly love the way Wikipedia defines time – “Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future – Wikipedia.” The word irreversible in the definition surely resonates with me.  This means that time is on a mission and continues on this mission regardless of what we do with it. I remember a popular Nigerian Musician in the 90’s, by name Mike Okri. He titled one of his songs ‘Time Na Moni’ (as spoken in pidgin language) which simply means ‘Time is Money.’ In the song, he advises that time be used for valuable activities. 

 Time is like a flowing river: you cannot step into the same water twice

- Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

I am reminded over again that, time cannot be managed. Our priorities, energy and self can be managed but not time. Time is a resource that must be spent in the achievement of identified goals. It is an enabler. The best use of time is to use it! The more you use time in a focused and intentional manner, the more you are able to create time for other things and start ahead – this is what we often describe as being Proactive. You will never have time, you were meant to create time!

Truths about time:

·       Time can only spent and not saved – spend your time doing meaningful things

·       The more you spend time wisely, the more it compounds

·       Purpose + self-mastery + Time = success

·       When time is put to good use, productivity is high and the probability of burn out and stress is reduced

The question lingers - ‘What do you spend your time on?’ I have met fellow humans whose achievements equate them with aliens suggesting they are blessed with more than 24hours in a day. My Mentor, John C. Maxwell in his book ‘No Limits,’ recommends that we build our discipline capacity in order to get more out of our 24hours. Self-discipline is the ability to commit to your plans. Paul Martinelli describes it as the ability to give yourself a command and obey it. Self-discipline is a daily craft.  

Success is never measured by the number of hours available to you in a day but in the quality of your results and outcomes. Regardless of the season of life we are in – Youth, Middle Age, Old age. What we do and continue to do with time will define how seamless the transition to the next season will be, it will determine how fulfilled and productive we become. Your productivity is always directly proportional to how you appropriate time.

I often hear people moan and complain “there’s not enough time in a day,”  “my schedule is too crowded,” “I am always firefighting,” “it is difficult for me achieve work-life balance,” and so on. How does one achieve work-life balance when 80% of our time is spent on activities which give us only 20% value? The 80/20 Pareto rule holds sway when it comes to time. It is established that only 20% of what we do in our lifetime will birth 80% of our impact. So why don’t we spend our time on the big ticket items? Use your time to achieve/create more balance in your life. It is this balance that puts you in the driver’s seat of your life.  

Below are some nuggets that may (depending on your commitment) help you in achieving more with your time:

·       Have a vision – write it down and memorize it

·       Distill the vision into SMART (S – Specific, M – Measurable, A – Achievable, R – Realistic, T – Time bound) goals

·       From your goals, identify your Big Ticket actions (Big Rocks) – these should be the actions that leapfrog you and make a difference

·       Prioritize your Big Rocks by committing your time to the achievement

·       Plan your day, week, month and year ahead. Be intentional with your time. Start planning your 2019 today!

·       Identify your daily energy drainers and eliminate them as much as you can

·       Consciously change a daily habit

·       Get an accountability partner – someone who wishes you well and can hold you to your commitment  

One good thing is that it is never too late to spend your time well. You can start TODAY!!!

Please take out time to watch this video: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/put-the-big-rocks-in-first-video/

I leave you with this question:

How would you appropriate time in establishing your purpose?