Last week I had the opportunity to attend a time-management training seminar through my work. My expectations for this class were not high, mainly because I see myself as a very organized person. I believe everything has its place; and if there isn’t a place for it, find one or throw it out. I like things simple, clean and easy to find. But an hour after the seminar started I knew this class was going to be very different than what I thought and it would go beyond my expectations.
The consultant had jokes and he was able to keep my attention from the beginning. But as soon as he started talking about writing down our governing values, my heart became rattled. I was having a hard time understanding how my values could relate to planning my day, week and month. Even further, I felt I wasn’t sure what those were to me.
Two years ago when my family fell apart, I questioned everything I had ever learned. I wondered how I was supposed to guide my life when I didn’t know what was the right thing to do or the wrong. I was lost.
As the consultant gave a scenario about “what would you cross the I-beam for,” I was able to quickly jot the important things in my life. These were the things I would cross the I-beam that was hanging across the Hoover Dam on a wet, windy day for.
I realized how important it is to know where you stand on issues so that you can make the right choice in daily activities, between what projects to start and if I should be going to a birthday party when I didn’t finish my homework. If I want to do well in school, then I have to choose to do all my homework and ‘be there’, sometimes my social life has to take a back seat. But if I value friendship over school, then I should be there for my friends and work on building long lasting relationships.
Benjamin Franklin, writer, publisher, inventor, entrepreneur, and so many other things, wrote down 13 virtues he felt were the right way to guide his life. Along with each virtue, in his opinion he included a principle to follow the virtue that would define a person of good character, see school-for-champions.com/character/franklin_virtues.htm. Because he made this list, he was able to chew on each virtue one week and one bit at a time. He was able to live a more fulfilled life.
I realized that I needed to clearly write what was important to me so I can succeed completely. With listing the things that are important to me and putting an affirmation with each, I should be guided in the right direction.
The next step in the time management process was outlining my goals. I didn’t have to list them that day, but I committed to writing at least two within two days. Goals are vital to accomplishing the tasks that seem the hardest. When I am able to outline and then list the duties to each task, I can actually see the end of the tunnel. I started simple with just setting goals for completing a few school projects. The things I wrote down seem to be achievable and I’m anticipating success.
The moral here is that I know that I need to know who I am, what I want and then outline how I am going to get there. This is my life and I am in charge. I want to lead the life I desire and don’t want to be vague about who I am. My values and goals are important and deserve to be defined. Do you know your highest priorities?