Having The Courage To Manage Your Time
“It is not so much what you believe in that matters, it’s more the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action.” – Lin Yutang (1895-1976, Chinese Author)
The Samurai listed seven virtues of Bushido or “the way of the warrior.” One of those virtues is “Yu” or courage and bravery. These key virtues are just as important in modern life and success today as on the battlefield in ancient times.
Standing face to face with another warrior, razor sharp swords in hand and knowing that in minutes, one of you would be dead, required a special type of courage and total focus.
The modern warrior, however, has different worries and fears that must be faced, overcome and conquered. Not better or worse, just different.
Anyone that achieves success in any area of life understands the key fundamentals and concepts of time management and makes them a part of their daily operating procedure. Success that is achieved is usually based on overcoming fear and taking action. If you are contemplating doing something different or moving on a faster track, the first step is having the courage to take action. One of the best ways to overcome fear and inertia is to take action very quickly. Not sitting around and waiting for the right time or the “perfect” circumstances shapes success and allows the average individual to accomplish more in a short time than most people do in a lifetime. Life is short, no time to waste.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
Business guru Dan Kennedy talks about “time vampires”. These are the people around you that suck the your valuable time and productivity right out of your life. Time is your most precious resource. It is all you really have. It IS your life. As long as you have lots of time, you can do almost anything. But, if your time is cut short for any reason, all of your possibilities are cut short as well.
Most people don’t have the courage to ruthlessly guard their time, and therefore allow others to control what they accomplish and achieve. Of course a modern warrior needs to have the courage to face obstacles and over come the forces they identify as blocking them from their goals. People that waste your time should be high on your list of things to avoid.
There is a Japanese word called “kime” which means, “focus of force and energy”. Another way to state this is: maximum efficiency with minimum effort. For the successful person today, spending maximum time on the most important actions is the key to success.
The path to martial arts mastery always focuses on performing the highest priority task at the given moment. This focus on efficiency does not allow distractions or “time vampires” to keep the modern warrior from achieving his/her goals.
I wish you great success and don’t forget to focus your time and energy on what you truly want.
In the way, JWA