When You're In the Zone, Time is More Valuable.

There are several popular sayings associated with time.   Time is money. The most valuable commodity is time. The one thing you can never get back is time.   And we all know these to be true.   Then, why do we waste so much of it?  Is is because we're lazy, unmotivated sloths just waiting for the next big thing to collide with us and create success?  Probably not (for most of us anyway!).   The biggest challenge is focus.  When we are focused on a particular goal or mission, there is usually no stopping us, right?  We've all been there. . .   Hot new business idea Planning a last minute vacation Impressing a significant other on their special day   It is awesome to be "in the zone". AND SO NOT AWESOME TO NOT BE!!   The next time you feel "not in the zone", explore where your focus is.  Reconnect with your goals, your personal mission statement.  Then, watch magically as you start to do the right things, you attract more luck, and you begin, once again, to value time.   Additionally, you stop doing the things that do not lead you toward your goals.  You delete people from your life that are holding you back.  Amazing!

When I was a younger man, in high school in fact, I learned this lesson from my athletic trainer Mr. D.  Back in those days, I drove a 1981 Pontiac Firebird.  Bad car!  Bad meaning good.  One day, I was parked outside the gym, and my beloved would not start.  I tried and tried and tried, but she would not turn over. I lifted the hood and started looking for the problem.  I crawled underneath and found nothing.  I was sweating profusely and growing increasingly more frustrated as the minutes ticked on.  That's when I got the tap on my shoulder from Mr. D. I suspect he was watching me for about an hour anyway.   He pulls out a No.2 Pencil and sticks it in my carburetor and starts her first try....like a champ....or, like an expert.   He laughed and said, "That'll be 1000 bucks!"  I marveled at Mr. D for a few seconds, and then asked him how he knew how to fix it. "Specialized knowledge, Son....specialized knowledge."  I knew then because he said it twice I was to remember it for the rest of my life!   So, the moral.....Was it worth $1000 for Mr. D's specialized knowledge about fixing my car?  Maybe so, especially if I had had somewhere to go, something else to do, etc. I sure didn't know how to fix it.  How often are we unwilling to pay the experts for what they "expertly" know how to do?  Could I have fixed it myself?  Maybe. Eventually. Maybe not.  But how much is it costing to find out?