This week we continue with my eighth installment in our list of suggestions for how we could live and operate our businesses from a place of greater happiness…
Suggestion #1: Assume the best.
Suggestion #2: Roll with it.
Suggestion #3: Visualize responsibly.
Suggestion #4: Say what you want and expect.
Suggestion #5: Stop comparing.
Suggestion #6: Take the leap.
Suggestion #7: Lend a hand.
Suggestion #8: Be selective and guard your time.
When I travel, I put my valuables in the safe. I subscribed to a service that protects my credit. If I possessed a lot of actual cash, I wouldn’t keep it under my mattress and, if I did, I’d check it often and take precautions to safeguard it.
But, we all have something much more precious than money or diamonds. Something we can’t make any more of… our time. And, we squander it pretty ruthlessly sometimes. In fact, we often give it away willingly to the worst of thieves: Negative people, selfish people, egotistical people, pessimistic people, people who gossip, people who constantly complain, people who won’t stop talking, people who want our services for free, people who don’t respect our time, unreasonable people, people whom we can never please.
We can’t rid the world or our lives of these types of people but we can be selective and discerning about those to whom we will give our precious time and attention. If we want to run businesses that are delightful to work in and for and live lives that feel, by and large, happy… we must guard our time and be selective with whom we spend time. When we fill our client list, contact list, social media accounts, and our social calendars with people who fill our buckets, expand our horizons, respect our time, are loyal, fun and positive, we just feel better.
So, treat your time like Fort Knox. Only give it willingly to those who deserve and respect it. Your business and your psyche will thank you for it!
“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. ”
Steve Jobs