Time management is ownership

I *finally* finished 9 Lies That Are Holding Your Business Back…and the TRUTH That Will Set It Free by Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford.  I’ve already decided to read it again.  I read it with my book club and it has taken us months to get through.  If I read as we go along I miss the big picture.  If I read ahead I only vaguely recall some details.  So, I’ve decided to read everything twice.

“That is absolutely silly!” you say.  It may seem like it to someone who has never been in a book club like ours!  We are all in the same industry so the discussions get pretty deep when it comes to the hows, whys and ways to make something work for each of us.

Chapter 9, which I finished on New Year’s Day, is titled I Am a Victim of Circumstance and it proves the case that we make the circumstance we are a victim of regardless of it being good or bad.  The section which really hit home for me was Time Management is Ownership – maybe it was because I was reading it on New Year’s Day, which is naturally a time to reflect on ways to do things better.  The author suggests using two of four motivational quotes to enact positive change on the ownership of your time.

Call me a dud but I picked only one.  It speaks so strongly to me and it is something I struggle with regularly.  There are things I want to do and I don’t – which makes me the victim.  Knowing this – acknowledging it – makes me crazy.  I can’t stand the victim mentality and I intentionally avoid people who have it.  So, wait a second.  I want to share the quote:

“You never ‘find’ time for anything, if you want time you must make it.” 
-Charles Buxton

That stack of books I want to read.
Those ten blog posts I have on my list.
The training I want to attend.
A local networking event I want to check out.
The newsletter that was at the top of my list last year.

All those things I want to do and I never find the time to actually DO them.  Gee, now I think I get it.  Nobody can do them but me.  What good does it do me to have someone else read the books or attend training for me?  I might have the titles written down yet those posts are still in my head.  Is there someone out there who can market my company at an event better than me?  Now the newsletter……..

Here are the other three quotes:

“Start by doing what is necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  -St. Francis of Assisi

“Learn to use ten minutes intelligently. It will pay you huge dividends.”  -William A. Irwin

“You have more to do than you can possibly do. You just need to feel good about your choices.” 
-David Allen

If you were to choose one to start your New Year out right which one would it be and why?

Nibbling away -

Sundi