Time is irreplaceable and the only irreplaceable of the 3 precious resources - time, money, energy/health, and therefore the most precious resource in our lives.  We choose how we spend every minute of our time on this planet.  Think of saying yes or no to (s)exercise. By saying yes to one activity you say no to a million others.  Yet many men make wasteful choices about how they spend time. But these men unfortunately don't see that it is the wastefulness that often frustrates them. How can a man start using time more wisely?

Time is limited for all of us

We have 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 8,760 hours in a year.  If you were to live to a 100, you'd live 876,000 hours from the moment of birth to the moment of death.  That is not even a million hours in a lifetime.  You'd have to live to 114 to clock up a million hours on this planet. Many of us would like to be able to squeeze more into the hours of each day.  We study strategies for managing time and creative scheduling techniques.  We try to figure out how to do a million things at once... Or how to pack as many things into a short time as possible...

So how - and with whom - do you want to spend time?

How do you spend time now?  A useful exercise is to track for one week how you spend it so that you can see.  I helped one man to realise that he was spending too long on surfing the net comparing prices of the same massage treatment.  This was cutting the time he spent with his family, or enjoying the massage treatment!  He used the learning and started doing things differently.

By reading this article you have voted to give a moment to personal [and professional] growth, learning, improving the quality and enjoyment of your life.  And of course I sincerely thank you for doing so! There are a million ways in which you could spend this moment.  But here you are.  What values are you voting for by reading these words?

So how else can you explore how you use - or waste - time?

• How do you use time in any context of life?
• How could you reduce / eliminate the time pressure that you feel?
• And how do your choices about how you spend time reflect your highest values?
• What have you learnt about yourself with regard to spending time?
• Do you often find yourself rushing around?  What's the cost of that to you?
• How do you want to spend the hours you have left on this planet?

Looking inside ourselves and reevaluating our habits and strategies can be a scary process.  Scary things are scarier when we're alone for them.  But you may never walk alone - you can get my help! It will certainly prove to be one of the best investments of time that you'll have ever made!

Therefore...

In a life of scarce duration seek not mere accumulation.

Because the heart knows its measure in moments of unbridled pleasure.

In a life of hours many or few the worth of each is up to you.

A million hours may seem quite vast, yet in an instant they will have passed.

So hold each one with tender care, for the beauty in each is indeed rare.

On the canvas of time let love be your hue, and savor the hours that belong to you.