TIME IS LIFE- Investing time for a life of fulfillment

It’s been said many times in the axiom that time is money. For many business men, women and entrepreneurs, this goes well to form the nucleus of the policies and principles that drives their passion and motivation.

For some, money may not be the ultimate goal of their lives. Then what does time entails for them? Knowing the place and import of time in your in one’s life will change everything one have come to know about time management, and set one on a new pedestal and how to value your time and invest it more wisely.

Photo by Swing Media

Well, what if you are to learn that time is not just money but LIFE! Wouldn't you value time just as you value your life, when you come to the understanding that your life is tied to time? And as much as you waste precious time you are wasting your life and the more you invest your time, you are investing richly in your life.

Ever wondered why people seek a second chance to make amends or perhaps do what they should have done but never did? Or why people regret some of the things they did or didn't do and simply wished they could rewind the hands of time to make it possible again?

Unfortunately, time, once it’s gone is never recovered. The reason why most people fail in life is simply because they didn't know how to invest the time they had, and they wasted a lot of their it, doing the wrong things.  The value of time in your life is tied to what you do with every single seconds of time.  What you give your time to, determines what life will give to you. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to invest in time doing what entrepreneurs do- innovating, solving problems and needs, breaking new frontiers and barriers. To be a loving husband and good father, you must spend time with your wife, your kids, to love and care for them. Successful leaders hardly had enough time. 24 hours is usually not enough for them. But see a loser he, doesn't know what to do with time. He simply waits it out driving himself to the pit of failure, sadness and an unfulfilled life.

Even the good book in Eccl. 3 vs. 1 expounded the importance of time in life

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot……”

God did everything in the principle of time even with creation.

BEGINNING A NEW LIFE OF TIME

What are you doing with your time? Are you simply waiting out your time doing the wrong things and driving yourself to failure and sadness? Here are a few words on how you can begin a new life of time.

Begin with the end in mind: There are no fast lanes or quick fixes in life. Whatever you desire to be or to achieve must be propagated and cultivated in time. (Eccl. 3 vs 2 ….…a time to plant and a time to reap). To begin with the end in mind is to create for yourself the future you deserve not desire. (People mostly get what they deserve, not desire) and then plant the seed(s) that will grow into your deserved future. Of course working through every details and goals you must have set for yourself to achieve this deserved future.

A step into time: A Chinese proverbs that has been communized says that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. If you have been wasting your life sitting around doing nothing for it, now is the time to step into a new life of taking responsibility for your time and life. Little drops of water they say makes a mighty ocean. Begin little by little. If you want to become successful, see beyond what you see. See opportunities in every problem you encounter or witness. Even your present situation is an opportunity for you to take a new course and change your destiny.

Invest time in thinking out ideas. Look around you and see what problems people face. Think of a solution to the problem and help people with the solutions. Become innovative, be different, there is no harm in it, but be positive.

A life time investment: The tree you see today was planted by someone yesterday. The secret of a successful life is in a life time of investment. An athlete invests time in training. An author invests time in writing. A professor, invested time in studying and researching. Successful entrepreneurs invest time and every penny to their ideas and ventures. What are you investing today? It took Thomas Edison more than a thousand times to discover the light bulb. It takes time to realize every dream. Success is redefined to mean a progressive realization of a worthy ideal. Success is progressive- thus time after time. If you need a million naira to start a business, begin now to save to realize that dream. It doesn't matter how many years it takes you, what matters is that you are working towards your dream and actualizing it. Once, my mentor told me that life is like a marathon race where everyone is a competitor. In this race so many will have excuses for not making it first to the finish line. Some will stop to take a pee, some to excrete, others to rest their legs. He said, to make it you have to continue. If you have to pee and excrete on your body do so. People will laugh at you for peeing and excreting on your clothes, but it doesn't matter. When you have made it first to the finish line, the same people who mocked and laughed at you are same people who will lift you high and celebrate your victory with you.

In sum, remember that the quality of your time will depend on the quality of time you spend. Spend your time being a couch potato the quality of your life will be that of an obese sad person. This as simple as it goes, your time is your life, spend it wisely!

Shalom!

Deserve: merit: to have earned or be worthy of something Desire: request something: to wish for and request something