The most valuable resource?
Published: Mon, 12/30/13
What is the most important resource you can have? If you are
looking towards the new year and wondering how you can get the most
out of 2014 then it is time to start making some plans and dreaming
some dreams. A common reaction at this stage is to think, well it
would be nice to: Start my own business/ get fit/ lose weight/
live in a better home, please insert your particular dream. If
these are your dreams then I bet you have been here before on the
dying days of the old year. I will also bet that you made the same
excuses too, I don't have the money and I don't have the
time.
Well, some news for you, we are all going to get 365 days between
now and the end of 2014, sorry it isn't a leap year, so if the
29th of February was going to be your day to make your dream come
true you have a problem, and there won't be a 12th of never
either if that is what you were banking on. So guess what? Anyone
who makes a million, climbs a previously unscaled mountain (okay I
know there are not many of those left, but there must be one
somewhere), writes a best seller, or marries the love of their
life had exactly the same time to do it in as you. (Unless of
course you plan on dying in 2014 in which case that is all the more
reason to get on with life while you do still have time.
The other excuse is lack of money. Okay, being short of cash can
be limiting. However, you can see those limits either way, you
want to improve your health and fitness but you say that your
shortage of money means that you cannot afford a luxury gym
membership, a private trainer, expensive health foods and a monthly
weekend stay at a health spa? On the other hand not having much
money means that you cannot afford much alcohol, or tobacco, or
cocaine or junk food. Can't afford petrol? walk instead or
cycle, I mean, on roads and pavements, the old fashioned way in
order to get somewhere and get home again. What a tragedy that you
cannot afford to drive to an expensive gym and use their treadmills
and cycling machines.
The other problem with too much time and too much money is that it
tends to get wasted. If you have too much money to invest in a
business then you are likely to spend it on renting a luxury
office, leasing a flash car and hiring a pretty PA (women will do
something different, but possibly no more sensible) then start
wondering how to make any money back. It is the same with time, if
you seem to have all the time in the world (an illusion of course
as we have already seen) then it is very easy to alternate between
day dreaming and panic without actually doing anything in between.
Actually the most important resource is energy and energy emerges
from a combination of creativity and effort. Money is energy
already converted and you need to know what you are doing to make
really good use of it. Time is when you simply dissipate energy
unless you are making a serious effort to be creative.
So whatever your dream for 2014, forget whether you have the time
and the money to do what you want to do. Just think instead about
what you could do if you just had the gumption to try using the
resources you do have. Over the next few days I will get more
specific on how to raise your energy levels and focus your
creativity. I had better know what I am talking about because I am
launching the Somerset Stav Martial Arts School on a wing and a
prayer. http://www.somersetstav.co.uk
regards
Graham