There is no such thing as time management. We all have the same amount of time available each day. Event involvement requires that we block out an allotted amount of time for its completion. Therefore, instead of time management, let us consider event management to be a more reasonable approach to scheduling.
For each of us, time is valuable. For young people it passes slowly and for the more mature it passes way too fast. Time is priceless. Think for a moment about the last 2 minutes of a football game. For the coach whose team is behind by 1 point, time is that precious commodity that if used correctly, contributes to the win. For the horse that runs second in the Kentucky Derby, .02 seconds is the difference between $500,000 and $50,000 in prize money. If you lose your money, you can earn more. But, if you lose a week, you cannot purchase another no matter how much money you have. There is no substitute for time; it is irreplaceable.
Charles Spezzano in What to Do Between Birth and Death says, "You don't really pay for things with money. You pay for them with time." In summary he explains that exchanging time for money is the basic definition of a job. People trade their time for money and then they use their money to pay for their lifestyle. Everything in life can be traced back to an investment of time.
As a leader, event (or time) management is one of our greatest responsibilities. Maximizing each minute should be an ongoing goal. Even though we may never successfully reach total event management, we can use time wisely by following these guidelines.
#1. Focus on your talents. Recognize and understand your talents. Spend time each week improving your talent skill levels. Do not be tempted to work on your less talented skill sets thinking improvement will increase your leadership effectiveness. As John Maxwell once described; if on a scale of 1 to 10, your skill level is a 2, do not waste substantial time trying to improve since you will likely never grow beyond level 4. However, if you are a 7 in a specific area, sharpen that skill, because when you become a 9, you will have reached a rare level of expertise.
Look inwardly and identify four areas of strength. If you cannot complete this task on your own, ask a close friend or family member to help. You might consider areas like creativity, communication, teaching, writing, relationships, networking, and public speaking. These then become your focus points. Do not allow yourself to get caught up in those areas that are outside your four talent areas. You will get the greatest return on your time investment by narrowing your focus and improving your strengths.
#2. Identify your overall purpose in life. Most people hate this topic because they have no clue where they want their life to go or what their purpose in living might be. Each of us can remember and celebrate our own birthday, but how many of us can actually state with clarity why we were born? Identifying purpose in life is personal and private making most people uncomfortable when called upon to discuss or reveal it. Event management requires that leaders spend time on activities that advance their life purpose.
It is impossible to reach peak performance without a clear understanding of purpose. Increasing the horsepower of a racing engine means nothing without first understanding that speed is the overall purpose of increased horsepower. By identifying purpose, a leader gives birth to passion, effort, understanding, knowledge, accomplishment, and ultimately achievement. By harnessing events, daily, weekly, and monthly, leaders can continue to lead their organization forward avoiding stagnation or failure.
Most experts suggest that in order to identify your purpose in life, find a quiet place and meditate on what you feel is important. You will, with time and effort, arrive at an answer. But this answer may be incomplete. In order to arrive at a deeper and more meaningful purpose in life, answer the following questions and then bring all of these ideas together to create a full picture.
- What is it you do or do not do that you hope no one finds out?
- What current events seem to irritate you?
- What faults do you most often see in others?
3. Organize according to core values. The driving forces behind your overall purpose in life are your internal core values. They are the beginning points of inspiration for all you attempt. Your core values direct your thought patterns and those thoughts guide your actions. Without solid, well grounded core values life becomes monotonous and instead of striving for excellence in all you do the daily objective becomes only existence.
Without objectives, a person seems to drift through life attempting to survive with whatever cards they are dealt. With objectives, a person becomes the dealer and therefore dictates the game. Without guiding core values, ups become mountains and downs are bottomless pits. Much like a lighthouse guides ships in dangerous waters; core values guide leaders through the twists and turns of life.
Organize your month, your week, and your day not according to what's urgent or pressing but in accordance with your core values. Then, your day to day activities will have meaning and each day will end with a sense of accomplishment and personal fulfilment. The greater your sense of fulfilment, the more you will accomplish.
4. Choose to smile. It is a fact that when you smile at someone, they smile in return. Happiness is a choice, not a state of being; it is an inside job. No one else can make you happy. You must decide to be happy and only then will you experience its joy. At its most basic level, happiness can be found to always include relationships and friendships. Valuing relationships seems simple, yet most leaders downplay them and instead try to prove their own significance or validate their worth. In pursuing importance and power, most leaders allow relationships and friendships to dwindle away leaving only a hollow achievement with a feeling of emptiness.
Exercise wisdom here. Cultivate friendships and solidify relationships at every opportunity. In doing so, you will find peace and joy. Surround yourself with loyal friends and family. Prioritize your time for them and their needs. By creating healthy relationships, you will experience fulfilment and ultimately the happiness you deserve.
5. Duplication is the key. One person properly managing daily events can accomplish enough of the basics to be successful. Hundreds properly managing daily events can create a dynasty. Equipping others to do what you do compounds your efforts and your results. If you are the only one that can do what you do, then when you stop doing it, the income it creates ends. If you can teach others how to do what you do, then not only can you compound your results, you can eventually stop and the income continues.
Real leaders recognize that dynasties are created by people, not events or accomplishments. A leader will invest all of themselves in others only when and if they understand the power of duplication. By pouring themselves into the lives of others, duplication must occur just like the ripples seen when a rock is thrown into a pond. Schedule mentoring time and you will find that duplication takes over creating a team with impact and power based on relationships and commitment, not obligation.
No matter how hard you try, you cannot manufacture time. Time travel is not yet possible. You must learn to invest time rather than spend it. In order to manage life events; learn to focus on your talents, identify your life purpose, organize according to core values, smile, and practice duplication.
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