By Ryan Scholz
In the kickoff session to my leadership development engagements, I ask participants to identify five goals, either personal or professional, that they want to accomplish in the next twelve months. Then I ask them to identify the key obstacles that stand in the way of achieving the goals. Invariably, time and money will be at the top of list of obstacles.
In reality, these are not usually the real obstacle. Very few things we want to accomplish require all of our time or all of our financial resources. The real obstacle is proper allocation of time and money. It really comes down to choices that we have total control I making.
When we look at allocating time and money, there are three simple choices. We can spend them, we can invest them, or we can give them away. Finding the proper balance between the three choices is essential to achieving goals that we want to accomplish.
When we spend a resource, we are exchanging the resource for something we perceive we need or want. We spend money on essentials such as food and shelter. We also spend money on luxuries that go beyond our basic needs. Likewise, we spend time on what we perceive are essentials of life. We also spend our time on luxuries as well. The more we spend our time and money, the less we have for the other two uses.
When we invest we are giving up some of the resource now in the expectation that there will be more of the resource in the future. We put money in investments with the hope that the future value will be greater. In order to have money to invest, we have to forego short term spending in order to have more to spend at a later time.
Likewise, we can invest time. For example, we can invest time in learning a new skill that will make us more efficient in the long term. We can invest time in planning now so that we can accomplish the task in a shorter amount of time. Many of the goals that we want to achieve require an investment of our time and money now in order to get what we want in the future. Most significant accomplishments require near term sacrifices.
The final use of our resources is giving. When we give, we surrender the resource without an expectation of receiving anything tangible in return. When we volunteer our time to serve others or when we make a financial donation to a charitable cause, we are giving. Having the resources to give creates fulfillment in life. John Wesley, an English preacher and founder of Methodism said "make all you can, save all you can, give all you can". The more we invest our time and money in things that create value, the more of that resource we create, and the more we will have to give to others.
The best way to have more time and money to give and spend is to invest what you already have wisely. Making difficult choices to forego near term gratification through spending, and in finding ways to invest for the future is the best way to achieve long term happiness and success.
Ryan Scholz works with leaders whose success is dependent on getting commitment and high performance from others. He is author of Turning Potential into Action: Eight Principles for Creating a Highly Engaged Work Place. For more information, visit his web site at www.lead-strat-assoc.com.
Source:www.isnare.com |
