“The time is always right to do what is right.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life is a human innovation project with a lot of trials and errors. If you don’t take the time to research your gifts and learn how to maximize your success, you may fail to live your purpose.
Your life-clock is the amount of time you have to fulfill your true purpose. It is about building a life without regret. Experts say one of the biggest regrets most people have is that they are living the life someone else has created for them rather than their life’s calling. You only have enough time to achieve your purpose. Our average life span is 79 years or 28,835 days. We spend 90,000 hours working (usually for someone else), but very little time deliberately considering and then living our purpose. If you don’t want to live most of your life in regret, you must devote time to building your dream… starting today. Your life-clocking is ticking, and you are running out of time.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
— Henry Ford
If you want to do great things, you must experiment and fail greatly. Don’t allow fear to prevent you from pursuing that goal or dream in your heart. Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, failed 39 times before he and his team invented WD40. Did you get that? Larsen succeeded on the 40th attempt! This multi-use lubricant has been one of the most widely used products on the market since the 1950s. This is proof positive that you don’t have time to waste because you need time to fail. As you experiment, don’t get overly excited or expect immediate results. This can cause burnout. Develop the discipline (yes, it is a discipline) of staying laser-focused on your long-view instead of hoping for instant gratification and feeling disappointed when it isn’t so “instant”. Many of the great inventors failed numerous times before they succeeded, and you will too if you stay persistent. Start your own experiment right now!
A wise man told me, “Take care of your body when you are young, and it will take care of you when you are old.” Everything you do today will impact your tomorrow because it is today that you have to create the world you want to live in tomorrow. Dr. Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture, states, “Time must be explicitly managed like money.” I couldn’t agree more. Spend time thoughtfully examining and developing your gifts and talents. Remember, time will pass whether you do anything meaningful with it or not. Why not spend it wisely? If you don’t, you can’t reclaim lost time. You can’t borrow more time. And none can share the time they have been given with you. Stop procrastinating! Delaying the actions you need to take today will only rob you of success tomorrow. Take back control of your life and start creating your tomorrow, today!
