Part I – Time is Our Friend
If we can learn how to use time to our advantage, we can avoid a lot of hardship or pitfalls in our lives. After all, time is really the most valuable asset we have, when you get right down to it. Whether it's a terse e-mail reply you want to send or a relationship that's been broken by a misunderstanding or conflict, letting time work on those wounds or those flare-ups is usually great therapy.
Sometimes it takes years, especially with the relationship chasm that was created by interpersonal conflict. But even after years, those relationships can heal. People can put those differences aside and move on to enjoy a positive relationship for the rest of their lives. So, if we can learn to invoke patience (a pause applied to a decision that may have a negative or even foolish outcome) in a situation that could benefit from it, whether it be acquiring something like a major purchase, divesting of something, like a major sale or even a less costly transaction, time can be used as your friend. Remember the saying, “time is on your side” and invoke that thought each time you don’t have a clear answer to a difficult question.
Part II – Control of Your Time
As stated previously, it could be argued that time is each of our most valuable assets. There’s a frequent saying in our office, “Control Up – Stress Down!!”. Who has control of time? We, or perhaps, I should say I, have a tendency to let time fill itself with tasks that I just accept as automatic. I think about the routines I have adopted over the past thirty years and the hundreds or even thousands of hours I have spent trying to succeed at something (i.e. areas of work, study or golf, etc.) only to realize that the degree of improvement compared to the hours spent, in some cases (golf, in particular) probably was not a good trade-off. I have to admit that I did give up golf about fourteen years ago, due to a massive rotator cuff tear that required reattaching three tendons to my humerus, not fun (or funny). I digress.
I would submit that one of the most important things one could master, preferably fairly early in life, would be control, determination or intentionality, of where we spend our hours of the day and night. There is a business term for this type of valuation. It’s called “highest and best use”. This is the concept applied to an asset (time, in our instance) whereby the value derived from the quantity of the asset yields the greatest value possible. In the case of a life well spent, that value would be measured by joy. Joy for ourselves and joy for those in our lives that we have magnified with our presence or other contributions.
In closing, think about where and how you spend your time, with whom you spend it and what joy it yields to yourself, to those you love and to the others in the world in which we live.