david hieatt
Do one thing well
5 posts categorized “time”
Maybe the way you always do it is wrong.
Two years ago I tried to update my Typepad blog with a card, it just wouldn't work
So, I got busy. I tried again, and no matter what card I used, I couldn't get it to work.
Just now, I tried it, and it worked fine.
What was I doing wrong? Don't know. But I was doing something wrong, but I kept on doing it.
The result was I didn't write a blog for two years.
Another example was some mornings I would bake some eggs for my daughter.
I would use baking paper so the eggs wouldn't stick to the dish.
They would always stick.
Then I run out. I tired to buy some more, but I bought the wrong one.
I got parchment paper.
I thought about sending it back.
Then i tried it. And it didn't stick.
I was stuck using a way that didn't work.
There is saying about walking in dumb each day.
It is a mindset that gets you to question about why you are doing it that way.
Especially, if it ain't working.
But even when it is working.
But could work even better.
The Law of the Vital Few.
This law is known as Pareto’s Law.
It is named after an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.
It is also known as the 80-20 rule.
If you run a business, 80% of your business probably comes from 20% of your customers.
If you are a creative person, 80% of your awards/ recognition/income will come from 20% of your output.
So how can knowing this principle help you?
Well, start by looking at your day. See where you spend most of your time.
The likelihood is you will find out you spend most of your time on the things that you are not that good at.
Too many meetings. Too much admin. Too much politics.
This is called The Law of Oterap. (Pareto backwards).
This is where you spend 80% of your time on the things you are least good at. And where you can make the least difference.
You don’t need more time in the day. You don’t need to work longer hours. You don’t need to work weekends.
You just need to spend more time on what you are brilliant at.
And less time on all that other stuff.
The reason most businesses fail is because they never start.
The start line is the scariest place.
Step beyond it and you can be judged.
Step beyond it and you can no longer hide behind what might have been.
Most people talk about starting something one day.
But ‘one day’ doesn’t ever come along.
They don’t get past the start line.
Their ideas are probably good enough to succeed.
But their belief isn’t strong enough.
The patent office doesn’t hold the best ideas.
They sit in the back of your head waiting for you to believe in them enough to start.
learning from a runway
There is a point on a runway during take off that a plane reaches V1 speed. Once it passes V1 it has reached the point of no return. The point where the take off cannot be aborted. The plane has to take off. Or crash.
In order to determine its V1 speed every plane will factor in its weight, wind-speed, weather conditions, slope, length of runway etc. So although there’s not a physical line drawn on each runway, it’s there.
But when it comes to our lives, there is no calculation to tell us when the right time to do something is. No marker on a runway for us.
Instead we all wait for the right time to do something without ever having a calculation to tell us when the right time is. Is it the right time to start a business? Is it the right time to take another job? Is it the right time to chase our dream?
So what happens? We tend to defer. We put barriers up that give us justification for not doing these things. ‘The economy isn’t great right now’. ‘I’ve got a big mortgage to pay’. ‘I need a little more experience. ‘
We wait for the right time without ever knowing how to define ‘right’. The simple truth is that there is never a right time. The stars don’t all suddenly line up in one neat little row to show us the way. On the other hand, there is never a wrong time either.
It’s called a leap of faith for a good reason. It’s a risk. And the outcome is far from certain. And that is why we tend to put off these life-changing decisions.
So maybe the answer is to create our own false V1 markers in the runway.
Set it. Stick to it. And then say ‘what the hell’ and jump.
And hope you can build some wings on the way down.
Withdrawing time from the time bank.
Each morning you go to the time bank.
The cashier gives you 86,400 seconds to spend.
You have to spend it come what may.
So you can or should make each second count.
Or you can waste or flitter it away.(Same as money, I guess)
But at the end of the day, there will be none left.
Ask yourself, did I spend it well today?