If Not Now, When?

I heard a story about a guy who at 55 years of age decided to place a jar filled with 1000 marbles in his garage. Each Saturday he would go into the garage and throw away one marble. He decided to do this because he came to the realization that he was taking time for granted. Years were flying by and he was making no progress on his extensive bucket list. In fact, the list seemed to be the same as it was when he created it 20 years ago.

He worried that if he didn’t take control of his life it would be over before he knew it and he would be filled with regret. He knew he needed to analyze how he was managing his time, where he was focusing his energy, and where he chose to focus his attention if he had any hope of achieving half that list.

Like all of us, he had a desire to get the most out of life. He had much he wanted to accomplish, but not much time left to do it. He figured a visual, such as a jar of marbles, would serve as a weekly reminder that time is going by quickly and that he needed to make the most of every day he was blessed with living.

On the day he pulled the last marble from the jar and threw it into the trash he took himself back to the day he placed the jar of marbles in his garage. He couldn’t help but wonder where the time went. As he stood there thinking about the 1000 Saturdays that had passed by, he was suddenly overcome with emotion. The realization that he had taken his days on earth for granted nearly brought him to his knees. He had treated time like it was eternal, an endless commodity that was renewable. He was shaken.

While he was happy about how he approached the weeks that made up the time represented by the marbles in jar, he couldn’t help but wish that he would have realized earlier in life the precious nature of time. He wished that he would have placed 1000 marbles in a jar 25 years earlier than he had. He was certain that had he, he would have lived a more meaningful, purposeful, and exciting life. He was also certain that he would have fewer regrets, taken fewer things for granted, and ultimately lived a more satisfying life.

The Achievers Approach

Without a doubt there are days when we get out of bed and don’t feel one hundred percent. There are days when we are not at the top of our game mentally. However, it is how we choose to view and attack each day that ultimately moves us forward or drives us backward. Note, there is no such thing as “staying the same”. For if you are not growing, you are dying. If you are not growing, you are stagnating. If you are stagnating you, are decaying. If you are decaying, you are dying.

If you follow the most successful people in any industry, profession, or walk of life, all have, for the most part, the same approach toward life. They view each day as an opportunity to learn and grow. They awaken each day with a grateful heart and thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those they will touch. They control their day and attack it with positive energy and a determination to make the most of every minute given to them. Daily, they set priority tasks and make it their mission to knock them out and move one step closer to their goal. They design their life in their mind, and they play it out through their actions every morning, noon, and night. They do not leave their life to chance. They control the outcome. Obstacles are viewed as an opportunity to achieve at a higher level.

Our Approach

Whether we want to admit it or not, we chose our life and we choose how to manage it. The choices we make set our direction, our outcomes, and impact our happiness. Be it the job we chose, the partner we chose, or the place we chose to live. We chose it. Any response other than “I chose this” is an excuse and shows a lack of responsibility. Failing to take responsibility leads to stagnation, and we know where stagnation leads.

The same is true for how we choose to raise our children, what we choose to eat, what we choose to drink, if we choose to exercise, how we choose to spend our money, how we choose to approach others, what we choose for entertainment, and so on. We make millions of choices over our lifetime that directly and indirectly impact our lives and the lives of others. Those choices lead to a happy and fulfilled life or a life filled with regret and unhappiness.

The Dream

A happy and fulfilled life may seem like an impossible dream. After all, it seems like all you hear about is what’s wrong in the world. The news media certainly focuses on what’s wrong in all aspects of life. As humans, we have this crazy desire to get caught up in what’s wrong with the world versus what is right. The media knows this about us. They manipulate us. They want us to be negative. It keeps us coming back for more and makes them a lot of money. When we choose to let this happen we are letting them control us.

Your View

It sounds crazy, but a simple visual such as marbles in a jar can change how you approach your life and how you look at the world around you. This is because it forces you to think about how you think, how you look at life, how you choose to approach each day, and how you choose to open your time. Great performers spend their time focused on what they can control, spend little time on what they can’t, and put their energy into what is truly important. They focus their energy and attention on those things that matters most in their life. They are very efficient with their use of time. They understand how to sift through the clutter so they can get to what really matters.

Whether it is a jar full of marbles or a vision board, we could all benefit from a visual reminder to trigger our thoughts about how we are spending our time. Awareness is critical to our ability to achieve the life we desire. If you do not have a visual reminder, why not give it a try? You may find that the only thing you lose is the heavy heart that regret brings.

Randy Stepp is a Principal with Renaissance Leadership Group. RLG is a full-service business and franchise development company whose purpose is to help business owners realize their dreams of independence and freedom.

Visit Renaissance Leadership Group at www.renaissanceleadershipgroup.com to learn more about business development and franchising