Advantage Newsletter: Doing the Most with Your 24

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. Enterprising people simply do more with their 24 hours — working not harder but smarter.

We're all aware that many people feel that we must be careful when focusing on money or affluence or abundance … that in the pursuit of those things, there is danger. If you pursue money and affluence to the exclusion of other values in life, you have lost, not won.

However, let's consider this question: If you could do better financially, should you? In the time you have allotted to labor, economics, success, achievement, productivity, the creation of value, the development of skills and creativity, if you could do better, should you?

I believe one of the greatest satisfactions of living life to the fullest is doing the best you can with whatever you have. Doing anything less than your best has a way of eroding the psyche. We are creatures of enterprise. Life seems to say to us, "Here are the raw materials — your creativity, and 24 hours to use it. What splendid things can you produce?"

The Enterprising Person

Enterprising people are those people disciplined and dedicated enough to seize opportunities that present themselves ... regardless of the current situation, struggles, or obstacles.
Think of a few people you know who are enterprising. Think of people in the news, in your office, in your neighborhood, who manage to succeed regardless of the obstacles. What do these people have in common? They're probably always on the go, developing a plan, following a plan, reworking the plan until it fits. They're probably resourceful, never letting anything get in the way. They probably don't understand the word no when it applies to their visions of the future. And, when faced with a problem, they probably say, "Let's figure out a way to make it work," instead of, "It won't work."

Enterprising people see the future in the present. They will always find a way to take advantage of situations, not be burdened by them. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them; they go after the opportunities. Enterprising means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

However, we humans can be particularly creative at working at less than our potential.

Work Smarter

It's an obvious — yet often overlooked — truth: Rich people have 24 hours a day. And, poor people have 24 hours a day.

The difference between the rich and the poor is in the management of that time. Successful people often work harder and longer than most, but they almost always work smarter.

If we get more from ourselves, if we can make an hour as valuable as 10 hours used to be, we can get as much done in a day as we used to get done in a week. Imagine the potential compounding effect of working smarter.
By practicing a few simple disciplines every day, you can use time like the rich — with focus and effectiveness.

1) Run the day, or it will run you. Part of the key to time management is staying in charge. Some will be masters of their time, and some will be servants. Enterprising people become the masters of their time.

To master your time, you must have clear written goals for each day that you keep with you at all times. It helps to create each day's list the night before. Prioritize your goals for the day and constantly review them.

And here's a good question to ask yourself constantly: Is this a major activity or a minor activity? By asking that question, you will reduce the amazingly natural tendency to spend major time on minor things. In sales training, we are taught that major time is the time spent in the presence of the prospect, while minor time is the time spent on the way to the prospect. If you are not careful, you will spend more time "on the way to" than "in the presence of" your goals. Continue the article...