Appetizer:

• Eleanor Roosevelt, My Days

• Albert Einstein

Entrée: Take A Reality Check On Time by Wendy Hearn

You have more than enough time for the things you've chosen to focus on, haven't you? Perhaps your focus is on your personal life, your career, being a leader, developing your business or whatever is important to you. If your use of time doesn't reflect these focused activities, the route to achieving personal success will be a long one.

Using time effectively is a simple process, yet I've found that often, the most basic actions steps aren't taken. I noticed this in myself recently while reading a book. As I skimmed the page, I decided this wasn't something I needed to read. I wanted to read something I knew nothing about, so I could learn about it. After all, I needed new information, not the same thing I'd heard many times before. Yet because I've been aware of being more focused and effective, a few of the words had obviously stuck in my mind and kept coming back to me over the next few days. The words were 'create a time-log.' I didn't really need to hear this because it's fairly basic stuff. I'm way past that! I thought I was clear on what my time was used for and that it was all productive. Wasn't it? Because it came into my mind a couple of times, I decided to give it a bit of space.

A time log is simply a record of how you use your time. So armed with a piece of paper, I started to log my time and activities, partly to prove that I didn't need to do it. Although at first I forgot to log everything, as I persevered I soon got into the habit of it. Boy, was I in for a shock. I would have said that I knew how I spent my time and that it was all effective. I didn't waste much time and people often comment how much I manage to fit in. However I'd also become complacent and stopped looking for ways to improve and manage myself.

When I'm working with clients, one of the areas we cover is how to get in touch with present reality. If you don't know specifically where you are now, it's harder to see what needs to be worked on and to plan future steps forward. The time log demonstrated to me that I was quite out of touch with the reality of what I spent my time on. As I continued with the time log, I could see a much clearer picture. Seeing it in black and white left me in a better position to make choices and changes. You're not able to make effective choices if you don't fully appreciate what's happening. Whereas I thought that some things took me 30 minutes to do, the reality was nearer 90. I was then free to choose whether these activities were the most effective use of my time. I was able to see what else could be delegated; especially the things I'd convinced myself took only a couple of minutes. The time log also gave me the opportunity to identify the times when I was inspired by my vision and taking action from there and the times when I wasn't. I could see clearly that these actions were more effective when I was inspired by my vision and this encouraged me to be with my vision more.

Being aware of what you spend your time on is an ongoing process and with the speed of change that occurs now, it's something you need to keep a regular check on. And remember it's often the simple and basic things which we're not always implementing. What I want is for you to be clear about your present reality regarding your use of time.

• Wendy Hearn

About the author:

Wendy Hearn works with business owners, professionals and executives to discover and unlock their own inspiration, to effortlessly take the actions required to have the success they desire. To receive Wendy's free newsletter, send an email to: newsletter@wendyhearn.par32.com http://www.Business-Personal-Coaching.com

Second Helping: Organize Yourself Otherwise Your Work Could Kill You by Lorraine Pirihi

We are in a society where people are applauded for starting work early and finishing late. It's about time employers recognised that their people have a life and that working from dawn to dusk does not make them a happy and productive employee.

Have you ever heard of the Pereto principle or the 80/20 rule? It goes like this: 80% of your results are produced by 20% of your efforts - 80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients - 80% of your files are used 20% of the time… and so it goes

It's time to organize yourself and get a life, not just a living. When was the last time you did some regular exercise? Do you know little things like taking a brisk walk at lunchtime or climbing up and down the stairs will help you function better? You'll be more refreshed and energized.

Get away from work during the day. Organize your lunch break so that you spend time out of the office and in the fresh air. Even if it is only 15 minutes to walk and buy your lunch (something low in fat).

It's always the little things that make the biggest difference…

Ever heard of the "Woodcutter Story"? Once upon a time there was a woodcutter who was found cutting trees in the forest, seven days a week, with a blunt saw. One day someone said "Woodcutter, why don't you take time out to sharpen your saw?" The woodcutter replied "I'm too busy, I don't have the time".

Moral to the story: If the woodcutter took time out to sharpen his saw, he could cut more trees in less time.

Isn't it about time you learned how to organize yourself so that your saw remains sharp?

About the author:

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers how to get organised at work, so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!" To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au

Soup to Nuts: From the Feedback Button

I hear from nuts, but this was not one of those... A humble visitor shyly confessed this week: "I give healing. I am nothing special myself... this gift seems to have become interested in me, since the age of 7... and strangely, as I have dealt with my own healing needs, I have developed a faith in my ability to do the same for others." He was wondering what Friday's Inspiration could "do" for him and his gift, if he were a subscriber. My response was, "Maybe nothing! I could lead you to water, but you must drink for yourself."

Friday's Inspiration is a collection of writings from myself and other authors on various subjects. It serves me as a wealthy source of personal inspiration on many of subjects I have been interested in over the last several years. What is most important to remember about this site is that I WRITE FOR MYSELF. If there are other benefits to other individuals, that is a secondary blessing.

What this means is, I try my best not to preach, not to tell people what they should do or think. I write about what works for me, and I collect the writings of other authors on any given subject that interests me during that week. There is much inspiration in the archives, but be warned: There may NOT be anything that my ezine can "do" for you and your own personal gift or gifts!

How you manage your talent, how the energy of the Universe expresses itself through you as a conduit, is entirely up to you. I am honored to provide tools that you may find useful. May I suggest searching the site for what you are seeking? Use the Friday's Inspiration Search link to find it all.

I must apologize for inadvertently sending a message to the InboxInspirations GroupMail list with all addresses visible to each member in the group. I value your integrity enough to know that you will not distribute the information or compromise the trust of the other members on our list. Unsubscribe requests will be honored. I own this one, mea culpa... rrrrrRipples... Ah, please read on, gentle subscriber....

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Help Wanted: Whine Steward! Please submit resume to WhineCaptain@N-Spire.com - need suggestion for next week's wine to go with the meal. I thought I would suggest a Columbia Crest Grand Estates 1999 CValley Merlot for this week. Bon Apetit!

Main Course: Determined Optimism - by the numbers!

I love numbers. I can remember lots of numbers, easily. Old phone numbers and addresses from way back in my childhood, my buddy's service number from when he joined the Army in 1968, long distance card pin numbers, bank account numbers, doesn't matter. If it is a number, I will remember it better than any other information.

I have favorite numbers, too. One is a good number. It signifies unity, individuality, beginnings. Two is better, in some ways. It signifies oppositions such as light and dark, truth and error, good and evil. Threes are great. Many things come in threes. Three things offer a greater range of choices, options, or possibilities. In its perfected triangular arrangement, threes imply success, achievement, order and integrity.

I have been thinking about overhauling my website. But, if I do, it has to become more easy to get around, simpler to find stuff. One thing I was thinking about was breaking the articles down into groups or categories. If I did, what would those groups be named, and how many should there be? I came up with three:

Simplify,     put me first when needed, care for "I"
Empower,    put others first when possible, live and work with "Love"
Balance,     deal with the results, be responsible to "You" (there in the mirror)

Look at yourself in the mirror, Michael, and say it by the numbers: 1-2-3 - Simplify, empower, balance. Don't just talk it, walk it... What better way to say to those you care for, "I Love You"... than to be an agent in helping them to simplify, empower and balance their own lives? No better way than to be an example of it myself.

I thought, what else is there? When it comes to any task, whether it is a work task on the job, life tasks in the process of everyday living, or those tasks and goals I set for myself when doing the "inner work" that is necessary to my healing, looking at each task in the light of these three things will clarify the importance of the task, and may be useful in scheduling, goal planning, and so on. These three could also be used to clarify the reward or payoff of an act or choice or task, the ease of achievement, the... whatever. Lots of ways to apply this, I thought.

Simplify had to be first, the Elu or Alpha consideration. It's a lot easier to organize tasks or goals if there is less stuff to deal with. My early writings were simple, because simplicity was what was needed in my life at that time. Now that life has gotten a bit more complicated, I believe a little streamlining of the process is in order. Just keep it simple, wherever possible.

But, after simplifying something, there is a place beyond that, where thought, time or effort is required to act, to choose, to incorporate, to unify or provide some continuity in the application of knowledge gained from experience. If tasks, goals, or acts and choices are approached from a viewpoint of personal empowerment (as opposed to the acquisition of external power), they are more likely to be spiritually uplifting, beneficial to others, and to myself.

Through it all, the ultimate outcome should be to seek the balance of this task with that, balance between one goal and another. This is the Omega concept, the endgame, the pinnacle of doing things in the first place.

I have found that each day I rise and go to work, I start out with determined optimism. I discovered that arranging my time, my "To Do List," with these three things in mind has been the best tool to help me gauge the amount of determined optimism I should have for the day, weeks and months ahead of me.

This week, when something demands your time or attention, ask yourself, "How can I simplify this? How can I do this in an empowering way? How does this fit in with the balance of everything else on my schedule? Be optimistic, but use these three simple keywords to determine a realistic level of optimism.

Simplify, empower and balance. Here's to your ultimate success and triumph!

• Michael Rawls, Friday's Inspiration © 2003

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Peace and Light,

Michael@N-Spire.com