From our freshman year in high school we’re told to start thinking about what we’d like to do. Everyone has high hopes at first – we flash back to our (long-lost) childhood ambitions and think, “My parents did always tell me I could be whatever I wanted to be. I really have always wanted to be a veterinarian/doctor/lawyer”… But then we learn the cold, hard truth of the matter – that it’s going to take another 5-10 years of hard work to get a serious degree in that field – so we opt for something a bit less difficult with a still-acceptable monetary compensation. Maybe we aim for whatever the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says is the highest paying, most in-demand position that year. Maybe we just don’t know what we want to do and flounder until we’re almost out of college, selecting the most generic courses to cover the most bases.

There are those who know what they want to do right away in life and are not afraid to pursue it. They schedule the trip and the stops along the way and it goes pretty much like they plan it. Then there are those who think they know what they want to do, but after going in that direction awhile, realize they’re going the wrong way and are left feeling unfulfilled. Then there are people who have no idea where they’re going or what to do on the trip, so they borrow someone else’s trip ticket. They blindfold themselves and stick a pin in the map – and never find out what exactly it is that they want to do. So dreams don’t get realized, sometimes indefinitely, and usually in exchange for the almighty dollar.

So, what’s your trip been like? Do you know where you’re going and what you want to do? How can you know it? Here’s the simple answer: do the thing you love. You know what that thing is when you realize what it is that you do best. The gift each one of us has will manifest itself in how we do whatever we do. When you find you’re really good at something, you’ll realize you also really love it. And if you love it, you’ll also be really good at it, because it’s your passion. What better way to feel fulfilled and impact the world positively than to share your gift with others?

Sometimes it takes time to realize what our gifts are and when we finally do figure it out, we might feel like it’s too late to transform it into a career. We’d rather keep going than turn the car around and backtrack 1600 miles in the pursuit of a new destination. My suggestion to you is that it’s never too late to change your mind. If you’d planned a trip from New York to Florida and realized halfway there that it had always been a dream of yours to see Sedona, what would stop you from just going ahead and changing your plans? Time? Money? Is it possible that those were the same factors that led you to choose a less meaningful destination in the first place? Ask yourself this – in the end, how will those factors really add up in comparison to the reward of doing what you truly love while sharing your gift with the world?

What is it you do well? Do what you do. And love it.

When you hear the word “value”, you probably think of how many rolls of toilet paper you can get in the big package as opposed to the small one. Or how the price per pound of bulk food is exponentially less than those little boxes you find at gas stations. So what is value, really? Certainly it’s not just about sheer quantity for your dollar. No, it’s about quality for your dollar.

When standing in the checkout lane I am often faced with a small decision as to which treat I would like to indulge myself with. While a simple chocolate bar is somewhat satisfying and fairly inexpensive I usually find myself choosing a smaller piece of Godiva chocolate instead. Is it overpriced? Maybe. Is it worth it? Absolutely. It’s about value.

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that the most valuable thing in the world is time. Yet, for many of you, your job takes up most of it. If you own your own business, you are probably one who enjoys a good day of work. However, I bet there are certain tasks you face each day that you absolutely trudge through, just to get to the stuff you really wish you were doing. Couldn’t your time be better spent on more meaningful business pursuits? Something you actually enjoy? That is the reason you started your own business after all. To do what you love. Freeing up time to do that – now, that’s valuable.

Jim Rohn is quoted as saying, “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” I’m sure you can agree. Even a mountain of money wouldn’t buy you more time here on this planet. But certainly, if you could just find a way to save a bit of time within each day, you could pool it into a few more minutes, hours or days to do those things that really matter to you.

As a virtual assistant, I’m in the business of giving others more time.

I often find myself bogged down by certain activities that, while necessary, prevent me from doing the things I enjoy. A cupboard needs fixing, the lawn needs trimming but I really would like to spend time with my kids. Fortunately, I sometimes enlist the help of others so that I can accomplish the goals that are more important to me. By hiring a boy who lives around the block to do yard work I can free up that space in my day do things that I really love.

I apply this same concept to work. There are many tasks that are added to my workload throughout the day. By hiring an assistant or a specialist I can hand certain tasks off to people I trust, while also handling the things that I would like to personally accomplish.

What do you value? What else could you “buy” with a little more time in your day? It could be something as simple as the opportunity to pick your kids up for school, or, even bigger, a chance to take a day off? It could also be work-related. Like the chance to concentrate on the parts of your job or business that you value the most by simply handing other things off to someone such as a virtual assistant.

We’ve probably read a dozen guilt-inducing articles about how much time we waste on the things that aren’t really important in our lives. Disheartening, right? Yet, having filtered that information and agreed that some things needed to change, do we still find we’ve done nothing about it? So, what’s your excuse? In the immortal words of William Penn, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”.

Consider these stats: the average person gets 8 hours of sleep per night, which leaves 120 waking hours each week. If that person lives 77 years (or 2,800 days or 670,000 hours), they will spend:

1 year getting dressed

2 years on the phone

3 years in the bathroom

9 years watching TV[1]

Now, I don’t know how much time we could cut down on getting dressed or being in the bathroom, but I do know that we could spend a lot less time doing some other ridiculous things. Like editing this blog fifty times!

As percentages go, our jobs typically get the lion’s share of our day. Money is a necessity, thus our jobs gain priority – there’s no getting around it. But, there are things we can do to make our time at work more efficient and in turn, free us up to do the things that are most important to us. See my April 16^th blog on delegating! Here’s a simple test to see how you’re doing and some quick tips to help you improve: http://www133.americanexpress.com/osbn/tool/articles/time_management.asp

Making time for physical exercise is important. Often it’s the energy lift we need for the day and of course, the health benefits are innumerable. But you may not have considered setting aside time for a spiritual lift. It’s important “to recognize that there are many circumstances and situations over which we have no control; and the need to acknowledge and seek out that quiet place for introspection, prayer, and peace. If we do not create that space for ourselves, the world will take it from us. We need to be proactive, we need to be assertive, and we need to seek out positive, constructive, and nurturing relationships to sustain us as our journeys unfold.”[2] It also takes time to nurture those relationships in return!

Ultimately, you need to decide what’s important to you. Make a list of those things. Put them in order of priority. It could be quality time with your family, fishing, volunteer work or having a daily time of quiet, spiritual refreshment. Next to each item, place a percentage of your day that you spend doing those things. Then multiply that number by a week, a month, a year. In ten years, what percentage of your waking hours will you have spent doing the things you truly love? Are you doing them as much as you’d like to be?

If you’ve never heard the 1000 Marbles story, it’s an eye-opener. You can read it here: http://www.ewebtribe.com/inspiration/1000marbles.html

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[1] Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv5zNYZlNFI[2] Excerpt from article http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00075/rss=5

The value of the human bond can easily be taken for granted. We hunker down and bury our heads in our work and daily grind, never looking up for the help that could lighten our loads, both mentally and spiritually. It has long been suggested that human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. Almost four centuries ago John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” Webster’s defines a support system as a “network of people who provide an individual with practical or emotional support”. A good support system is like a spider web. Each communication comes in like a thread and many threads coming in from all different directions – parents, friends, coworkers, business associates – all converge at the center to meet you, creating a strong network and support for whatever it is you do or are going through. Our support connections change throughout our life. When we have children, our support may come mainly from our parents or other couples with children. When we have health issues, our support may come from our doctor, our family, our church. In business, it may come from other business owners or even clients. But typically, we are wearing many of these hats at one time, so our support system should be huge! Ecclesiastes 4:10 says,”…woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help lift him up.” Don’t take this tool for granted! Gather together a support group for yourself. Find people with similar life situations or business goals. Success teams are a great support group idea for business. Banding together with other open-minded business owners and colleagues to plot out the blueprint for achieving your goals will get your creative juices flowing and keep your direction clear. Who better to bounce your ideas, questions and problems off of then than your peers? And don’t forget that not only is your support system good for you, you’re good for your support system. While others are helping you through your trials and discouragements, you are learning the most effective ways of helping others. In turn, you are able to pass those benefits along to others in your system. Applied knowledge is wisdom!

“Build your reputation by helping other people build theirs.” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo