Are you spending your time meaningfully?

I hear people all the time speak about how they wished they could live our their dreams.  They want to be wealthy, they want to have nice homes, cars, and a great nesteg.  They want to be debt-free and put their children through college.  They want to retire young and die happy.  I also see people pass up opportunities all the time that could put them on the path to those things they truly seek.  I heard a wonderful acronym for poor once...I will share it now:

P-Passing

O-Over

O-Opportunities

R-Repeatedly

The really ironic thing is that people pass the opportunities over, in large part, because they feel they don't have the time to pursue them.  They say, "Oh, I will work on my dream, once my husband or wife achieve theirs." or "I will do it when the kids can take better care of themselves."  Or "I am working too much right now, I can't take the time to go after my dreams, I have bills to pay."  Now, while it is a good thing to support the spouse's dream, or wishing the children were older, and it's okay to work those extra hours on the job (for some people at least).  That does not mean that you can't work on your dream too.  Even if it's for a few minutes to an hour each day. Really, for all the things that we can accomplish in this life, a lot of what we afford to do depends on how well we manage our time.

Take my life for example.  I worked a full-time job, ran a small business part-time, went to school full-time to earn a master's degree (which I accomplished), wrote and published a book, all while being a single mother.  What did that look like for me?  Well, I didn't get a chance to watch as much reality television.  I didn't have as much time to spend with negative people (which does affect you- whether you believe it or not), and I didn't have time to take on tasks for other people, so that THEY could have the laissez-faire lifestyle they were dreaming of.  I had two steady streams of income (which have now become 5), I learned a lot- and I taught my child a very valuable lesson, which is no matter what your circumstances are, you can do better!  Of all of my accomplishments, the last one is the one which I most savor.

The good news in all of this is, that YOU can accomplish the same things and more!  You simply need to start by assessing how you use your time.  Once you determine where the time is going, you can decide what things you need to delegate- what things are just wasting time, and where you can add more time to your day.  For instance, if you turn off your television for 15 minutes a day extra- five days a week, you add 1 hour and 5 minutes to your week- an hour that you can spend working a business, taking a class, or just reading for information. Just imagine if you illiminated 1 hour a day, five days a week from watching television, or doing some other leisurely activity that you participate in all the time.  That's 5 hours that you can use doing something else.

There are plenty of books which have been written on the subject.  Stephen Covey, has produced a lot of great information that can make you more effective in managing your time and resources- but this kind of information has been made available across the span of our age.  A quick way to assess where your time is going is to take a week- to jot down all of the things you do in a day, and evaluate how long those things take you.  Make an update on a schedule or appointment page at least once every hour.  At the end of the week, go back and look it over- then ask yourself, "How much of this, did I really need to be doing?  What benefit did I get from it, and could I have spent the time doing something more meaninful?"  Finally, ask yourself, "What things could have been delegated and what things could have waited?  I am sure that you will be surprised at where your time goes, and seeing it written out will more than likely spark a fire in you to change some things.  Remember, if you want something different, you will have to do something different often times to get it...why not start by making a difference by managing your time better?  It's a sure fire way to help you gain the success you seek!

Make your own opportunity

"I had to make my own living and my own opportunity.  Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come- Get up and make them!" This an such an inspirational truth and a blunt call to action delivered by one of the most influential women in American History, Madame CJ Walker.  Madame CJ Walker is most notably credited with the invention of a chemical hair relaxer or the pressing comb (incorrectly, I might add), and so much so that all of the other things that she did to lift up and inspire, not only her race and women, but people as a whole is often overshadowed.

Mrs. Walker, a descendent of slaves- got instructions in a dream to correct a condition from which she was suffering, which caused hair loss.  Once she followed the instructions and reversed her condition, she set about the business of sharing her "tonic" with people everywhere.  While she was not herself a slave, she did work in the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta, eventually working her way up to the kitchen.  After developing her scalp tonic, she began traveling from city to city promoting her hair products which eventually led to her having the ability to open several hair salons,beauty schools, and even a manufacturing plant.  She even developed and trained sales people to promote her products!  In addition to building a wonderful business, she was very charitable!  Giving thousands of dollars (yes, THOUSANDS) organizations such as the NAACP, and even joined a group of Harlem leaders to the Whitehouse to demand that the federal government develop and enact anti-lynching laws.  The attitude that Madame CJ Walker had was one of strength, dedication to something that she loved, and a commitment to hard work.  She had a dream and worked tirelessly to make it a reality.  She was able to become an entrepreneur and a respected member of her community, in the most unfavorable and unequal conditions. 

Today, the possibilities are endless for those who have a passion to make their own way- to acquire wealth, to be educated, to reach for a place higher in society than they currently stand.  When times were as difficult as they were in Walker's time, people still perservered and pushed through to become successful, influential people- who made history!  The lesson that we need to get from them and keep at the forefront of our minds, is shaped in the very quote that began this blog post.  Make your opportunity- create your living.  Work hard at making your dreams come true, as they surely can even in the most dire of consequences.

The TRUTH about the life of Madame CJ Walker can be found on a website dedicated to her and maintained by her great-great grandaughter, A'Lelia Bundles: http://www.madamcjwalker.com/