How to Invest Your Time and Energy for Maximum Success
This is part two of a two part series. Read part one: "A Balanced Life is for Losers."
The greatest insights -- those that can have the most profound effect on creating a richer life -- are often the most obvious. There are a handful of such truths that can radically transform your perception and be the first step toward living your best life. The following truth, if recognized and internalized, can lead to a whole new way of looking at the world that will allow you to get the most from it: You have a limited amount of time and energy to invest. Duh, right? Not so fast. There's a real danger you will gloss over this because this "insight" is so obvious. Let me rephrase. You can't do everything you want. If you start this hobby, it means you will have less time for that hobby. If you go out with your friends tonight, it means less time with your family. If you start a business in the other 8 hours, it will mean less time for TV.
Since you have a limited amount of time and energy to invest, how can you best invest these resources to have the strongest impact? Last week I made the case that a "balanced" life is for losers. This is not to say you are a loser if you have a balanced life, but that the act of spreading your resources across several areas means that there isn't one area of your life that is benefiting from the extra time and attention.
For example, what if famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma decided to balance his time and training across the cello, guitar, drums, and bagpipe? My guess is that he would have been great at each of these, but not exceptional at any of them. Yo-Yo Ma would be Yo-Yo who?
But what about you? Follow these four steps to determine where you should invest your time and energy:
- Identify key life areas. Jot down the most important areas in your life. I like to combine all of my areas into just four -- Health, Financial, Growth, and Family/Friends -- but you can create your own.
- Assign current rating. Rate each area of your life between 1 (miserable) and 100 (perfection) to see where you stand currently.
- Prioritize top area. In which area do you want to focus more intensely over the next quarter or year?
- Allocate time/energy. Once you've identified your priority area, should you disregard the other areas of your life? My recommendation is to work on getting to 75 or 85 in as many areas of your life as possible, but overweight your priority area -- whatever area is most important to you. It might be making more money, advancing your career, or receiving professional recognition, but then again, it might not. Maybe for you it's being the best damn dad you can be. You might "settle" for 75 in health, career, friends, and reaching your personal goals, but you'll strive to hit 100 in your family.
Time is money, unless for you time is better health, or closer friendships, or connection with family. Get good across the key areas of your life, and then get great in one.
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