By Noah St. John, Ph.D.
"You don't have time to d o any project, because you actually can't do a project – you can only do action steps."
— David Allen
There are three resources we can use as human beings. They are: time, energy and money.
Of our three human resources, which do you think is the most valuable?
Some people say energy is the most valuable, because all things are energy.
We learned in high school that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it just IS. Since energy is infinite, it can't be the most valuable resource.
What about money? Money is just a form of energy.
The way money works is, you have some - and everyone else has all the rest!
Since money is just a form of energy, money is also infinite. Therefore, money can't be the most valuable resource either.
The reason time is the most valuable human resource because it is the only resource that can never be replaced.
All of Bill Gates's billions can't buy one minute of yesterday.
Therefore, when we talk about filling your tank, we’re talking about activities that give you more of your human resources of time, energy, and money.
And emptying your tank means activities that take away one or more of your three human resources.
You can't get more time; but you can create either more productive time or more unproductive time.
Productive time means doing activities that move you towards what you want.
Unproductive time means you are either doing activities that do not move towards what you want, or actually move you away from what you want.
For example, you might say you want to lose weight, but you spend all of your time sitting on the couch eating potato chips and watching TV.
You're not using your resources very productively, now are you?
That does NOT mean you should be working all the time. Productive time also includes taking Goal-Free Zones (Step Four of The Secret Code of Success).
Here are 2 questions that can explode your daily productivity:
1. What activities would I love to do MORE of? (Column A)
2. What activities would I love to do LESS of? (Column B)
Many times in my seminars when people do this Step, they're blown away by how much time they’re spending on activities that empty their tank.
Gee, I wonder why they feel like a failure?
Once you've filled out those columns, answer these questions:
1. What reasons (excuses) have I been giving for NOT doing the Activities in Column A?
2. When are those reasons (excuses) NOT valid?
3. What Activities can I DO from Column B (just get them over with)?
4. What Activities can I DELETE from Column B (just eliminate them)?
5. What Activities can I DELEGATE from Column B (let somebody else do them) and to whom?
Write your answers to these questions - then share them on http://www.NoahNation.com
Column A includes activities that you'd love to do more of, activities that fill your tank.
Most of us are saying, "I can't, I can't."
So tell me: WHY can't you?
The reasons always boil down to, "I don't have the time, the money, or the energy."
When are those reasons or excuses NOT valid?
"I don't have the time."
You DO have the time.
Nobody has more time or less time than you do. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, and even Bill Gates hasn't figured out how to slow down the Earth's rotation.
Next time you hear yourself saying, "I don't have the time," I want you to realize that you just told a lie.
But if you say, "I'm choosing not to do that," or "That's not a priority for me right now" – now, you're telling the truth.
Whether you choose consciously or not, you are making a choice.
Take the steps to make better use of your human resources, because that's another important step to give yourself permission to succeed.
