Today, one of my good friends said something to me that made me think. “Dale, I don’t know how you do all of these things. You’re a doctor and still get all this other stuff done.” I thought it was rather funny that he said that to me when he himself is a very successful businessman. Usually, to do as well as he has done, you’ve got to spend some very late nights at the office working. Anyways, his statement caused me to take inventory on my time compared to others. Why is it that I seem to get more done than other people?
After careful consideration, the answer is simple…I care more. I don’t mean that I care more about people or success, etc. What I mean is that I care more about accomplishing whatever task it is that I set out to accomplish. Success tends to be about priorities. We prioritize things which we care about higher than those which we don’t care about. At the moment, I am practicing medicine,running a couple of companies, working on a book, and putting on a summit that will host over 1,000 people. I am able to do this because I deeply care about each one of these projects. The truth of the matter is that God gives each one of us 24 hours a day. Time is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, you still get 24 hours! It’s not how much time you have that matters, it’s what you do with it.
Other than caring deeply about the things I choose to spend my time on, I’ve also spent several years studying mechanisms to become more effective. I am a strong advocate for reading and have learned from brilliant people (via their books) how to get things done! One of the biggest secrets to getting stuff done is working in a team. The truth is, it’s near impossible to accomplish greatness by yourself.You need other people in your corner to bear the burden with you. Hopefully you have seen my G.R.I.N.D. talk or at least read the blog. If you have, you’ll know that I place a very high value on building a strong network. This is half the battle to become successful.
In the end, I think it’s pretty simple. I’m effective because I deeply care about the things I spend my time on and I have a network of great people who contribute to the success of these things. I challenge every person reading this to do this one simple exercise.
Step 1: Make a list of your values and the things you care most about.
Step 2: Review how you spent your time yesterday (down to the minute).
If I were to look at your time diary, would I be able to deduce what your values are and what you truly care about?
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