Your Personal And Professional Growth.

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes the amount you fail to use during that day. What would you do? You would draw out every cent of course!

Each of us have such a bank. It's name is "Time." Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest for good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposit, the loss is your's. There is no going back, there is no drawing against the tomorrow. You must live in the present of today's deposit, and invest it to derive the utmost from it.
 (author unknown)

As I reflected on this little fable, and how I use my time, I was reminded of the book by Steven Covey "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Covey suggests that the purpose of his habits is to regularly exercise the four components which many believe make up the human being: body, mind, heart and spirit.

• Body: Exercise for a sense of well-being.

• Mind: Exercise to sharpen the intellectual abilities.

• Spirit: Exercise with meditations and inner reflections. For many (including myself) this is an intentional connection with God.

• Heart: Exercise care for important relationships.

I will admit that I regularly and routinely have devoted a discipline to the first three on this list and am working at improving the 4th. I also have considered how much of my account I have LOST because I have not used my time purposefully or wisely.

Recently I was talking with a group of young people. Except for the exceptional few, when you're young there is little thought beyond today. Little planning or thought of the above list is considered. It would be easier to understand a 19 year old not giving much consideration to planning or disciplining himself, but I know many people who in their 30's, 40's, 50's plus who are still sleeping walking through life. Their life is consumed with mindless, meaningless activity or non-activity. We all know people who have put a lot of attention to one dimension only, or still another group of people who spend most of their time just working.

Many organizations have "Time Management" training programs, but seldom do people make a "habit" towards the four important aspects of life that make them more effective and powerful as leaders or exceptional human beings who are living the abundant life and getting the most out of their years on earth. Consider your time. What do you value?

* To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed the grade.

* To realize the value of one month, ask the mother of a premature baby.

* To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

* To realize the value of one day, ask the day labor wage earner with kids to feed.

* To realize the value of one hour, ask two people in love who are waiting to meet each other.

* To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the plane.

* To realize the value of one second, ask the person who just avoided an accident.

* To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won the Olympic silver medal.

Resources: Steven Covey and Alistair Begg