TM Article 10

What I Learnt about Time Management from Brian Tracy

by Rajen Devadason

Brian Tracy

Before reading any further, please ask yourself if your life is as awesome as you dreamed it would be when you were a child.

Tragically, most people would have to say no because of distractions, temptations and obstacles that have arisen throughout our growing up and adult years. Thankfully, while there is breath, there is hope!

As I write this in early November 2011, I think back to a brief chat I had with Brian Tracy when I attended the National Achiever's Congress at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur many years ago. It was soon after I had heard him speak to the thousands of us who were there to learn from him and other outstanding speakers.

I remember thinking it had been quite hilarious that every speaker on that platform who had gone on before Brian Tracy made reference to the tremendous lessons gained from him through his books, audio programmes and live events. And I do mean every speaker!

When it was his turn to speak from that large stage, I was mesmerised. I remember in particular Brian's crystal clear teaching on the ways to best phrase key life goals when writing them down.

Later on that day, during one of the event coffee breaks, I walked to him and grabbed the opportunity to request an autograph on his workbook that was bundled with an extensive audio learning set I had eagerly bought as soon as his speech had ended. Brian graciously signed my workbook and then made time to talk to me.

In the intervening nine years - if memory serves me well that encounter was in 2002 - I've spent hundreds of hours listening and re-listening to Brian's audio programmes as I drive long distances to meet with my own financial planning and retirement planning clients or on my iPod as I exercise.

What lessons should you extract from my own 'Brian Tracy' experience? Well, I believe it makes sense for every single one of us who wants to achieve more in life in terms of spiritual, physical, family, social, emotional, career, finance and personal progress to take the time to look for mentors and teachers who know their stuff and who are able to impart their wisdom in a form that best suits us.

Some readers of this article will not know me at all and may simply have stumbled upon this page because it popped up during an online search. But most readers who stop by here are likely to be people who have been my clients, listeners or print-based readers  who have followed me for years. If you're in that second group, then I hope you will benefit greatly from my following thoughts on time management, which largely stem from what I've learnt from Brian Tracy:

None of us knows how long we have left on earth. Only God knows that answer and He mercifully doesn't usually share it with us! But whether we have many long decades or only a few short years ahead, there is a burning fire inside the most motivated among us to live a life of significance that matters to other people. I'm assuming that's how you feel.

So, please do note that the price of not living a well-managed life is to run the risk of slamming into a dark, grim wall of regret like Shakespeare’s King Richard (in Richard II), who said:

“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”

To avoid such poignant regret, I believe each of us should aim to improve the quality of all eight dimensions of life, which I mentioned earlier. Every person is different; therefore the relative importance of spiritual, physical, family, social, emotional, career, finance and personal development will vary.

Another key lesson I learnt from Brian about personal leadership is that we are most effective when we set goals that pertain to us personally and not when we unwisely attempt to set goals for other people. A classic example of a goal that is a definite non-starter would be: 'My goal is to have Susan/John love me."

We can't truly set liberating, empowering goals for anyone other than the person who stares back at us in the mirror.

So think through each of the eight dimensions of life I've already listed twice and set individual goals that matter to you in each dimension that you care about. If you don't have any ambitions in one or two of those dimensions, for now, don't worry about it; just focus on the dimensions of life you do care most about.

How exactly should you go about doing all this? Well, because the principles remain the same for all key dimensions, I’ll illustrate the process with a financial example:

The best known definition of financial planning comes from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (check it out at www.cfp.net): “Financial planning is the process of meeting your life goals through the proper management of your finances.”

To me, the two most important phrases there are:

1.     ‘meeting your life goals’; and

2.     ‘proper management of your finances’.

First, to succeed financially (or in any of the other seven dimensions of life) you must meet your life goals. But you can’t do so until you know what they are!

So, to come to grips with what matters most to you, set a few minutes aside each day to kick your shoes off, put your feet up, and just daydream of a perfect world – your ideal future!

And, yes, this exercise in dreaming of an absolutely perfect future is yet another lesson I learnt from Brian Tracy!

As you do so, observe where your imagination takes you. What’s your ideal world?

What does it look like, feel like, smell like and taste like?

You’ll find it hard to begin this exercise, but if you persevere, you will get the hang of it. Take written notes.

Second, ask yourself: What do I need to do, whom do I need to become, and what should I give up to achieve those dreams?

Prioritise those dreams. Then transform each one into a bona fide goal using the WPPTPT formula (best remembered in this form: WP-PT-PT).

Here's what I mean by that cryptic abbreviation. Write down your goals in the Personal, Present Tense and Positive form. Then add a challenging but realistic Time-based deadline to each one. (This exercise is so potent I consistently teach it to my best financial planning, retirement planning and life planning consulting clients.)

A famous study carried out at Harvard University showed that among a class of graduating MBAs in 1979, 84% had no goals, 13% had goals but had not written them down, and only 3% had well-formulated written goals.

A decade later, in 1989, that 3% was earning, on average, ten times more per person than those without written goals!

This study corroborated a Yale University one carried out about two decades earlier.

Almost everyone I speak to says that earning more money would make life better. If that's how you feel, I urge you to focus on learning key time management skills that will bump up your personal productivity... a lot!

Toward that end, I suspect the wisest thing you can do this week is to begin identifying your key lifetime goals. Then rework your daily and weekly schedules so you ONLY work on those tasks that move you closer, ever closer to your goals.

Be warned, though, there’s a price to pay:

To succeed, you’ll need to delegate (or abandon) all other activities that don’t move you nearer, ever nearer, to your perfect, idealised future. Remember: A major tool of your success is your diary, organiser or PDA!

To succeed even more, you'll also need to accept the truth that none of us can do everything that lands on our laps or is slammed on our desks. As the wise Brian Tracy once noted, "You have to procrastinate on something. Therefore, procrastinate on small tasks."

© Rajen Devadason