Time Management
Chapter 04. Anticipating the future and looking back
If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep,
you will work until you die. ― Warren Buffett
What is the most important
and valuable thing you do in any career field?
That is the mindset!
Your ability to think clearly about what you do
and how you do it will have a greater impact on the results
you will achieve than any single activity.
There are a number of aspects
of your work where “thinking slowly” is crucial
for peak performance.
Take at least thirty minutes each day
to review your goals,
plans,
and progress.
The best time to do this is early in the morning.
Take time to think,
plan,
dream,
and create.
All great leaders as well as high performers take this time of the day
to thoroughly research what they are going to do before they start.
You should read,
evaluate
and reflect on what you are undertaking before you act.
Over the years,
I have read hundreds of biographies
and autobiographies of successful people in many fields.
One thing I’ve found in all these biographies
is that true success occurs only through introspection,
reflection,
detachment,
and contemplation.
You can only achieve extraordinary success
when you regularly spend time thinking about yourself,
what you want,
and how best to get there.
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Take the time to evaluate your life
and activities in general terms.
Think about where you are today
and where you want to be in 5 years.
Look at the activities you’re doing today
and determine which ones can have the biggest impact on your future.
This mindset will help you manage your time better than you think.
There are times when just an idea
that comes to mind after a period of contemplation
or aloneness can save you months
or even years of hard work.
Long term vision
Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University has conducted
over 50 years of research on the attitudes
and behaviors of successful people in the United States
and around the world.
He found a characteristic
that seems to distinguish successful people from failures,
which he calls “long-term vision”.
Banfield found that high performers take the time
to think about the long-term future,
often 10 or 20 years from now,
and figure out what they want to achieve in life and work
by the end of the year at that moment.
They will then return to the present
and make sure that what they do aligns
with their future goals.
This is a highly effective technique that you can also apply.
Plan the future in a few years
and imagine that your life will be ideal in every way.
Imagine your work in perfect detail.
From this future point of view,
look around and describe your ideal life and work.
Then ask yourself if what you’re doing is in line
with building your ideal future.
From that future point of view,
examine yourself,
where you are today,
and map out the steps you need to take to reach your goals.
This “look back from the future” mindset is a habit of many top leaders.
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Make better decisions now
Consider the example of a young girl who decided that she wanted
to achieve a lot of success in her career as an adult.
With this clear long-term vision,
she spends a lot of time studying
to get excellent grades in high school
and qualify for a prestigious university.
In college,
she enrolled in more difficult subjects
and spent more time studying than her friends to graduate
as high as possible in the course.
After years of studying hard
and ignoring the pleasures of partying,
sports and socializing,
she graduated with honors from a prestigious university
and was employed by a large company,
where she had the opportunity to be hired pay better
and get promoted faster than classmates
who don’t think about the future.
Once you know where you want to be at some point in the future,
it becomes much easier to make better decisions now.
As a rule,
a long-term vision will support short-term decision-making
as the saying goes:
“If you don’t know where you’re going,
no way will.”
The habit of building a long-term vision is important.
By contemplating the future
and observing the present,
you will often find out what must be done
and what mistakes can be avoided.
This activity will help you understand your own principles.
It will give you the tools to manage your time
and activities so that what you do today brings you closer
to the future you want.
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Get ready for time management techniques
If you’re not working towards your desired goal,
then you probably don’t want to get there any faster.
If you’re not acting in a direction
you decide for yourself,
there’s no point in managing your time to speed things up.
The application of the time management tactics
without a clear vision of the future will only get you there faster
without guaranteeing it’s where you want it to be.
Only when you have a clear understanding of your values,
your vision and mission in life and work,
what you want to achieve
and how best to get there,
can you begin.
Apply effective time management techniques at your fingertips.
The greater the passive income you can build,
the freer you will become. ―Todd M. Fleming
