Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

 Browse/preview/purchase Allen James' books at:

www.lulu.com/spotlight/allenjames1961 or
www.jamesharryman2002.wix.com/allenjamesbooks

James' latest, a children's book entitled, Crystal the Condor Makes Friends is now available.

Allen James writes for September 30th from The Journey: A Calendar Book;

"Do the things YOU enjoy doing the most" (James, 2012).

How often do we spend time following the lead of others in activities outside of work.  Enjoyment means enjoyment for US.  Certainly, we may share in our enjoying with others, but allowing ourselves to follow along JUST BECAUSE we do not have the ump to stand up for ourselves and say, "Hey, I think I'm going to do what I enjoy for a change".

The way we spend our time is the way we spend our lives, plain and simple. Harvey MacKay, an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and syndicated columnist has stated;

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

Did you know the average lifespan of an ant is about 50 days?
Imagine for a moment we, like the ant, only have 50 days left to live.
How would this time be spent?

Spend time wisely.

There are two parts to spending time wisely:

1. Spend our time on appropriate things
2. Spend our time in an efficient manner

Spending our time on the appropriate things

In order to spend time on the appropriate things there are four things we must know:

• How do I currently spend my time?
• What’s my dream?
• What skills and other resources do I need to achieve my dream?
• What are the specific activities to do next?

How do I currently spend my time?

The first step to spending time on the appropriate things is to be aware of how we currently spend our time. Imagine for a moment sitting alone on our bed, We’re a 100 years old, weak, tired and we know the end is near, and we're asking ourself the question of questions: “How did I live my life?”

It’s impossible to answer this question without reflecting on how our time was spent.
Would it be good idea to start reflecting on how this time was spent a little earlier than on our death-bed?  I think so, and here’s what happens when we do:

• We become aware of the choices we make
• We make different choices
• We spend our time differently
• Our lives becomes different
• We do more of the things WE enjoy doing

There are few things in life I believe are more important than being aware of how our time is spent.
Try working on the following:

• Carry your phone with you at all times for one week
• Document what you spend your time on, when the activity happens, in the “notes” application of your phone using this template*:
  • The date of the activity, e.g. 20^th of October 2014
  • The activity itself, e.g. “Replying to email”, “Making dinner for the family” or “Resting on the couch”, “Jogging”, Watching TV” and so forth
  • The time the activity started
  • The time the activity ended
  • The type of activity (not important & urgent (NIU), not important & not urgent (NINU), important & urgent (IU) or important & not urgent (INU)
• Go through what you’ve recorded at the end of each day and the week and ask yourself:

What changes would I like to make to how I spend my time?

Do the things YOU enjoy doing the most....time, it is a fleeting.... Keep looking up.  : )   AJ

(rethinkingtime.com)