Seize the Moment!

During our business building workshops Business Coach, Dennis Kelley and I ask participants what they consider to be their most valuable asset. We always receive a wide range of responses including: equipment, money, real estate, employees (team) and family….all good answers.

The answer, however, is TIME. It is without doubt our most valuable asset.

Time is the ultimate finite asset…when it’s gone, it’s gone. We are here on this earth for a certain amount of time and it is important that we use our allotment of time wisely.

So how do we best invest our time to get the best return on our investment? First, don’t waste time; and second always be present.

Being present is not as easy. In this age of chronic multi-tasking it is often difficult to keep your mind on the task at hand. Consider the SUV careening down the road with a driver on the cell phone, adjusting the radio and managing the kids in the back seat! Or the business meeting to consider a company’s future direction where Blackberrys are sending and receiving texts. In both cases being present is only an after thought.

Living in the past also leads to short changing the present and the future.

Recognizing that the past cannot be changed is a start, but what can you learn from the days that are gone?

Reliving the past is an all too common habit of trying to change things that have happened in our past. “If I had only stayed with the company”, “what if I did it differently?”, “I wish I had that to do again”, or “If I had only known then what I know now”…are all examples of thoughts relating back to the decisions and actions of the past. But the past is just that, the past. There is not one thing we can do to change history.

Successful people have determined what the value of the past means for today and tomorrow. Being present means taking the action that leads us toward our goals.

Don’t waste your most valuable asset by not paying attention or living in the past or the future. The only place we can be to successfully influence change in our lives and our businesses is NOW. Keep yourself “Above the Line” always work at being present in your thoughts, words and actions.

Seize the Moment!