Time and Tasks

Famous TV personality Oprah Winfrey says: “How you spend your time defines who you are."
Michael Althsuler says: "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -
And a wise guy says: “Don't worry about tomorrow. IN some parts of the world, today is already their tomorrow.”

Book author Stan Toler says: “To say that time is money is an insult to the power of time. Leaders know that time is their most precious commodity, valued even above wealth. They hold the currency of twenty four precious hours in their hand and they know very well that the use of these hours will determine success or failure, want or gain.
These are the same people who:

1. Start meetings on time and end on time.
2. They use an economy of words knowing that using 10 sentences to say something when one sentence alone delivers the job is a waste of time.
3. They spend time preparing their presentations making it relevant, useful and interesting but they also make it concise.
4. They respect the time of other people too.
5. They plan their time well, they have an agenda and nothing is done without a purpose.
6. They know when their prime time is and work at their best and they also know when their relax time is as they pause to regroup physically and mentally.
7. They stick to their quality time for their family and never get things mixed up in their schedule.

Killing time is a capital crime and Thomas Edison says it right:
“Everything comes to those who hustle while they wait.”
Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.
But now I want you to think about this. While spending time wisely is one factor for success what about another equally important factor called TASKS?
Let’s talk about Tasks this time.
Every time you think of tasks, think of one word: “Priority!”
Effective leaders do the important thing first.
Ineffective people do what they like doing first. It’s easier this way.
Many important things that need to be done are not pleasant and fun to do. But effective leaders prioritize this. Ineffective leaders deal with the less pleasant and less important things first giving them a semblance of productivity. They are busy all right but they are not busy on the important things. Don't mistake movement for achievement. It's easy to get faked out by being busy. The question is: Busy doing what?
There is a big difference between what is urgent and what is vital. Just because something is urgent may not mean it is important. And just because some tasks can wait does not mean it is not vital.
Effective leaders ask this one important question: “If I can accomplish only one thing today, what will it be?”
Time and tasks. Aren’t these the most important things we deal with on a daily basis yet guess how many people squander it?
Something will master and something will serve. Either you run the day or the day runs you; either you run the business or the business runs you.
Learn how to separate the majors and the minors. A lot of people don't do well simply because they major in minor things. Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely.
Each day is a gift from God but we do not waste the gift and throw it away.
We make the best use of it.

Enjoying Christmas

One day in America, this conversation from women passing by a storefront nativity scene was overheard. One of the ladies said: ”Now they're even trying to bring religion into it!"  (Duh?!)
How strange that people would think that Christmas is one giant party without understanding what the celebration is really all about.

Yvonne Chiarelli says “Our lives are busy all year long. How do we fit those things that we do once a year in an already overcrowded schedule? How do we fit in more time for shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, planning, partying, and traveling? It's no wonder the holidays bring additional stress to many.”
She’s right.
Only a few people I know would take time this Holliday season to be still and be thankful for understanding the reason for the season. I’m sure many would spend the days worrying about what our economy will be next year.
Many business people are saddled with cash flow problems.
Uncertainty looms over the air.
Mergers and acquisitions will displace many people in their current positions.
Low sales, a weak economy and little purchasing power will force companies to continue with their personnel liposuction activities.
Listen.
Take time out. Let’s devise a strategy here so that we will not be spending the holidays in woes and sorrows and miss the true spirit of the occasion.
Enjoy the holiday season by doing the following things:

• Say no to meetings that aren't holiday celebrations.
• Say no to requests that could be done after the holidays.
• Say no to the routines that don't add to or support your holiday experience.
• Say no to the non-essentials.
• Say no to the season's aspects that don't appeal to you.
• Say no to inappropriate and unreasonable expectations.
• And then:
• Say yes to gratitude.
• Say yes to allowing others their desired holiday experience.
• Say yes to taking care of yourself.
• Say yes to wider boundaries and higher standards.
• Say yes to the parts of the season you enjoy the best.
• Say yes to giving thoughtfully and accepting gifts with grace.
• Say yes to expressing your best to others.
• Say yes to forgiveness.
• Say yes to fun.

Handcraft the holiday experience of your choice.
Here is a success formula for enjoying the holidays:
Let go of what's not absolutely necessary. Participate with your family, friends, and colleagues. Smile and laugh a lot.
But the best suggestion is to understand what the real significance of Christmas is.
Let me present it to you based on the words from a Christmas card:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Notice this, as a child He was born of a virgin, as a son He was given.
The manger gave way to the cross many years later when He gave His life for us so that we may be saved.
And this is why the real meaning of Christmas is that the Savior has come but the real meaning of Christianity is not the manger but the empty tomb.
No, it’s not about the gifts and the parties, it’s not about cash flow, it’s not about stocks inventory and it’s not about our failing economy.
It’s all about putting accepting the Prince of Peace and allowing Him to reign in our hearts so that we may spend the rest of eternity with Him.
Then and only then do we enjoy Christmas.

SOME THINGS YOU KEEP

I don’t know why but at the start of the year I carry what I call “The Urge.”
Maybe you have it too.
Now what is “The Urge?”

It is the compulsion within me to clean up my desk, my cabinet, and my things, throw away the stuff I don’t need and bring out new stuff in preparation for the New Year. I am pretty sure this is the soul’s desire of wanting to start the year with a new slate. To throw away what did not work and hopefully work on those that would.
And so with my waste basket ready I begin to throw away unwanted things but as I look through my stuff I realize that no matter what happens, there are some things you keep.
You cannot just throw them away.
It looks like I am not the one who entertains the sentiment.
An unknown author wrote about this and I would like you to read her words carefully:
“Some things you keep. Like good teeth. Warm coats. Bald husbands. They're good for you, reliable and practical and so sublime that to throw them away would make the garbage man a thief. So you hang on, because something old is sometimes better than something new, and what you know is often better than a stranger.
These are my thoughts. They make me sound old, old and tame, and dull at a time when everybody else is risky and racy and flashing all that's new and improved in their lives. New careers, new thighs, new lips, new cars. The world is dizzy with trade-ins. I could keep track, but I don't think I want to.
I grew up in the fifties with practical parents -a mother, God bless her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it - and still does. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. They weren't poor, my parents, they were just satisfied. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers and tee shirt and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one's hand, dishtowel in the other's. It was a time for fixing things - a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress.
Things you keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant there'd always be more. But then my father died, and on that clear autumn night, in the chill of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more.' Sometimes what you care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return.
So, while you have it, it's best to love it and care for it and fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick. That's true for marriage and old cars and children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips and aging parents. You keep them because they're worth it; because you're worth it.
Some things you keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate you grew up with, there's just some things that make life important....people you know are special....and you KEEP them close!” End of article.
This got me thinking.
Here is how I look at it.
Things you can keep and throw away because they are no longer useful.
But people you keep because they are not things.
Isn’t it sad when the moment you leave your company you burn all your bridges and throw away the many years of friendship you have had with your bosses and peers?
Isn’t it sad when the moment you leave your church the same people you loved and helped are now the very ones who set out to destroy and discredit you?
Isn’t it sad when a conflict in the family whether business or relational, breaks it apart and now the love is replaced by hatred and loathing?
You can throw away things but some things you keep close. And they are not things but people.
Two things are hard on the heart... running up the stairs, running down people.
Love people and use things. Do not use people to love things.
Some things you throw away but the relationships you keep.
This is how you start the year with a clean slate.
This is why God’s mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness.