I attended a function the other
night where my daughter was performing and at the end of the evening a
confident young lady approached me. She was 16 years of age, and had
danced and spoken very well during the proceedings of the performance.
She asked me if I was Peter Sinclair and promptly told me that she had
been involved in a 'musical' project that I had organised for a large
group of children some five years ago in another part of the country. I
suddenly realised that the very talented life that I had just witnessed
performing that night was a life that I had in some way invested time
and money into years before. I had in one sense played a small, yet
significant part in her life. I was greatly touched!
This experience brought home to me the fact that one of the driving
forces in our life should be one of significance. Without it our lives
will simply resemble empty shells with no substance and will have little
or no real impact on future generations.
IT IS WHAT WE PUT INTO THE LIVES OF OTHERS THAT IS OF PRIME
IMPORTANCE
Another person recently asked me what I was doing with my 'musical'
talents at present. I responded that my major focus and enjoyment was
being derived from my writing rather than from composing music, and that
I was gaining greater joy encouraging my two daughters in their own
study of music rather than pursuing my own.
Life is full of seasons and it's important that we recognise them.
Just as sure as there is a winter, spring, summer and autumn or fall,
there are going to be seasonal changes in our life and in our
activities. It is important that we feel comfortable with this and that
we learn to flow with the changes as they occur in our various stages of
growth and development as a human being. But the important thing is that
no matter what season we are passing through, we must never forget that
the greatest investment we can make is into the lives of others.
You may ask, well how can I do that? Get creative. There are many
ways to start. Become a volunteer. Join a group of other people with
similar interests. Find someone who could benefit from your expertise
and share it. Write an article. Record your experiences on tape. Share
your life with others, but most importantly show an interest in others
first and foremost.
For me personally, at this point in my life, I'm finding that the
most far-reaching effectiveness I can have on individual lives is
through my writings. So this is where I tend to focus most of my energy.
At times it means that other areas need to be reprioritised so that I
can perform to my optimum ability as a writer. This is because...
A PRIORITISED LIFE IS AN EFFECTIVE LIFE
Time is a precious commodity and we must ensure that our efforts are
constantly being channelled into the correct areas.
How do you discover these?
Here's a suggestion that you may like to test....
Make a list of all the things that you want to do and need to do in
the coming week:
1. Put an A next to those things that are HIGH priority
2. Put a B next to those of MEDIUM priority
3. Put a C next to those of LOW priority
Now go back and evaluate last week and see whether you gave the most
attention to what is your HIGH priority (A)...at least 75 to 80% of your
time on those things listed there. B should have taken up to an
additional 20 or 25%. C should only use up between 0 to 5% of your time.
How did you go?
Do you need to make some changes? If so, at the start of each week go
through this process and continue this for the next 30 days and see if
you can remove a lot of your wasted time and replace it with productive
time.
Productive time doesn't necessarily mean that I have my head down,
tail up all the time. At times I need to just sit down and read a good
book. Recharging is one important aspect that is placed on my HIGH
priority list, especially when I have a busy schedule. It gives me the
time to be further inspired with fresh ideas that will assist me in the
project that I'm currently working on.
At this very point in time I'm working on some new sales material for
a new sales and marketing plan that I'm preparing. As I've closely
followed, step by step, the instructions regarding copywriting, in the
handbook that I'm using, the instructor has, as a few of his major
steps, the words Rest and Percolate. Not just once, but also a number of
times throughout the writing process.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Why does he tell his readers to do nothing? Well here are his words.
'That's right, another break made up of nothing. Well, not exactly
nothing. What I want you to do is put your sales piece away in a drawer
and go and have some fun. Take a ballgame. Go to your favourite
restaurant. Go for a long walk. Play your favourite sport. Listen to
your favourite CD. Or whatever you do when you want to get away from it
all. Before you begin to rewrite your sales piece, your mind needs time
to work its magic. It needs to do all the sorting, twisting, turning,
and reordering it needs to come up with even further breakthrough ideas
for you. And the best way to do that is to put your copy away and give
your brain the room it needs to percolate...you need time to get some
distance from what you wrote. At first, every word you wrote looks
brilliant. But with a little time, the flaws and cracks begin to
show...another thing I recommend is to sleep on it. Don't start
rewriting your copy on the same day you finished it. Work on something
else and get back to your sales piece the following day.'
So even nothing can at times be the greatest investment in the
fulfilment of your prioritised life. Not that you want to stay there
forever, but there are times when recreation will do just that. It will
help you to re-create what needs to be created, so that you can really
create a difference in your world and in the lives of those around you.
Motivational Memo for the Week: Significant lives are better prepared
to bring greater significance to seemingly insignificant circumstances.
Copyright: Peter Sinclair, 2001
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